Into the fire
by Evilkat23
Summary: Three years after the events of 'Let me talk' Ben and Damian now have their greatest challenge to face, a man named James Marrs, together, with old friends and family, they must stop this mad scientist before any greater harm comes to the dragons they love. Rated for Language and Violence
1. Chapter 1

The loud sound of the security alarm blasting above nineteen-year-old Benjamin which made his head pound painfully, still he couldn't think about his growing headache as he raced down the hallway his backpack banging against his back and his boots pounding against the tiled ground as he swung his arms with every step. Turning quickly he jumped the railing to a staircase and braced himself as he hit the ground and somersaulted forward. Breathing out heavily, Ben found the door that leads to where he needed to be.

"Damian! Hurry!" He begged as he pounded on the door. Standing there, he fidgeted where he stood constantly whipping his head back and forth to make sure nobody was around him. After about thirty seconds of waiting, Ben ran and pounded on the door once more. "DAMI-Oh." He breathed out once the door finally opened.

"I told you it'd take a minute." Damian hissed to Ben. His face rather angry as he dragged Ben inside the room and shut the door behind him. Damian quickly went to the keypad and looked at his phone briefly before punching in a section of numbers, the small red light blinked three times before turning green. Both of them stood there and breathed out heavily as they both had to catch their breaths. Ben became aware of the fact that the loud alarm once giving him a headache was not blaring loudly in this particular section. Leaning up against the door, Ben felt his heart rate slow down to a normal pace.

"We have thirty minutes before the knock-out gas wears off," Damian told him simply.

"Not my first time doing this." Ben simply responded.

"Master!" Twigleg yelled suddenly from Damian's shoulder which caused Ben and Damian to both jumped in freight.

"Jesus!...Twigleg...Don't call me that." Ben breathed out as he put a hand on his chest, outstretching his other arm he allowed Twigleg to crawl up on and up his arm and on his shoulder.

"Follow me..." Damian walked forward in front of Ben, together the two of them walked down the silent hallway, the only sound between them were their boots softly clicking against the floor. The farther down the hallway they went, the louder a weird mechanical sound got.

"Remember...Be on your toes...According to Info-guy, this dragon is definitely more dangerous than the other two we saved." Damian breathed out as they got closer and closer to the mechanical sound. Together they stopped in front of the door blocking the dragon. Damian grabbed his phone and let out a shaky breath as he looked at the code showing brightly on his phone. Shuddering, Damian, put the code into the pin pad, there was a couple second of silence before they heard a soft 'ding' gaining them access.

"Thank god, this dragon doesn't need a retina scanner to get to him or her." Damian joked as he opened the door. Ben didn't laugh, he just adjusted his backpack and walked through the doorway. Damian allowed the door to shut behind him and like before he locked it. Ben reached up and pulled at his slightly greasy ponytail. Feeling his heart beat in his chest at an alarming rate, Ben shuddered as they got closer and closer to the mechanical machine.

"Jesus..." Ben breathed out once he saw the machine more fully.

The machine was large, beyond large, it took up over half of the large room. On all sides of the machine, it looked like it was made of glass as you could see what was inside it. Trapped in said machine was a large black dragon, it's tail, middle, and head, and paws were all caught with large metal arms wrapped around the dragon keeping it in place. Ben looked away from the dragon and out the enormous windows just a little ways away from the dragon, the overcast sky making the room even darker than it should be. Almost as if it was a warning, a streak of lightening shot across the sky outside and Ben shuddered. Turning to the other side he saw a large office desk with papers strewn all over the top of the desk, and a couple of computer monitors and a desktop sitting on the bottom. Finally, Ben saw their exit, a one way down elevator.

"C'mon, we probably don't have long. The cameras are currently on loop, let's go." Damian breathed out as he rushed passed Ben.

Ben rushed along with him and Damian quickly spoke up,

"You talk to them and keep them calm, and I'll try and get them out."

Ben nodded and quickly rushed over to where the dragon could see him. The dragon was the opposite of Firedrake appearance wise, it was stout and small, it's head a flat oval shape and it had no horns. The dragon was fast asleep, unaware of the strangers.

"I've never seen a black dragon before..." Twigleg breathed out. Ben quickly got down to his knees and tapped on the glass rapidly. The dragon's eyes opened and Ben watched as it's pupils turned thin and almost cat-like.

"Easy...Easy, we're not gonna hurt you, we're here to save you. It's going to be alright." Ben started speaking slowly and clearly for the dragon. The dragon suddenly let out a threatening growl and started to wiggle around the metal arms clanging with each movement.

"Ben! Keep him calm!" Damian yelled as he started to punch in codes hoping they'd work.

"Hey...We're not here to hurt you. It's ok." Ben tried once more, this time with a slightly more aggressive tone. It obviously didn't calm the dragon as it's thrashing got more and more wild. Ben could see some sort of green smoke seeping out of the dragon's closed mouth.

"Twigleg get on the ground." Ben demanded as he allowed his friend off of his shoulder, "I'm no expert, but that's not a good sign."

The green gas became more and more apparent and Ben stood up his eyes wide once he realized if the dragon was going to shoot fire it was going to go straight for Damian. Of course, the moment this realization hit, there was a soft 'ding' and the door slid open and the dragon's bonds were released. Ben watched horrified as the dragon opened its mouth...

"Damian! MOVE!" Ben screamed as he suddenly ran forward and pushed Damian out of the way, before he could move there was a loud noise and he suddenly felt a blazing hot sensation hit his arm and lower back. That was when the world went black for Ben.

Damian groaned out and rubbed his now sore head, Ben had shoved him head first into the desk. There was a loud crash causing him to turn his head, he watched as the dragon, now free, had busted through the massive window and was now trying, and failing, to fly away. It was safe for now. Turning a bit he saw the wall, now black from the fire that the dragon just spit out.

"Jesus, Ben. Thanks for the push, I would have been a crisp." Damian smiled as he stood up with a groan. He then frowned, "Ben?"

Looking past the blackened wall, he felt his eyes go wide at Ben's crumpled body on the ground. His friend laying on his right side, back turned, clearly unconscious.

"BEN!?"

"BEN!?" Twigleg screamed out as both him and Damian ran to Ben's side.

"Christchristchrist!" Damian yelled in a fast pace, grabbing Ben's arm he turned his friend over onto his back, he let out a startled gasp, he heard Twigleg let out a sudden gasp as well as a sob as they both stood there horrified at the site of Ben's injuries.

The dragon fire, much unlike the stories of Firedrake's that Damian had heard, had completely burned Ben's right arm and went all the way down to his back. His clothes on that sight, what was left that is, were completely demolished in the flame. Damian gently picked up Ben's arm and examined it to the best of his abilities, he shuddered at the charred waxy almost leathery apprentice of Ben's arm and side. Looking at the pink and white melted skin, Damian only turned away, trying his hardest not to be sick.

"...Third-degree burns, of course..." He muttered.

"What do we do?!" Twigleg asked as he looked up at Damian with worried and sad eyes.

"...We have to leave. He's unconscious...I can hoist him up on my back, but we have to fast, the knock-out gas should be wearing out by now..." Grunting out, Damian leaned down and grabbed Ben's good arm forcing his friend up just enough for Damian to get Ben on his shoulder. Grunting under the weight, Damian had to move Ben down his shoulder till his had a grip around Ben's knees while Ben dangled behind him.

"Christ, he hasn't eaten in days and he's somehow heavy..." Damian wheezed out. "Ok, Twiggy, get into my pocket and let's get out of here before anyone wakes."

"Because the best thing to do when a person is as injured as he is, is to put him on your shoulders and shake him as much as humanly possible?" Twigleg questioned Damian he quickly growled at Twigleg,

"No! The best thing to do is to get him out of here! If they wake up they'll kill him. If we call the cops? We broke in! We knocked them out with chloroform! We'd go to jail, prison, FBI interrogation! Take your pick! Now get in my pocket!"

Twigleg scrambled up Damian's leg and once safely in his pocket, Damian jogged to the elevator and pressed the button, instantly the doors opened up and he got in.

"Hopefully the info-guy was right and this SHOULD go straight outside and I just gun it from there," Damian spoke aloud, mostly as a warning to Twigleg who was going to have a rather bumpy ride. The doors slide shut and slowly the elevator started to go down. Once it was past the floor they were just on, the alarm became loud and clear once again. Damian shut his eyes and slowly started to count down,

"Floor five...Four...Three...Two..." He paused suddenly and clutched his fist so tightly that he was pretty sure his knuckles were white. Ben felt unbelievably heavy as he unconsciously laid on top of Damian. The elevator came to a slow down and paused completely.

"One."

The doors opened and Damian sighed out with relief, it did lead outside, Damian was never happier to see a cold overcast day in his life. He then ran into the cold as fast as his legs could. It probably didn't help Ben's injuries any as Ben was bouncing against Damian's back repeatedly with each step. Running away from the building and cars, Damian carefully rushed towards the wooded area just east of the building. Avoiding low branches and roots sticking up, Damian found it, his car.

Thankfully the doors were already unlocked, opening the back doors first, he gently laid Ben down on the backseat and allowed Twigleg to lay with him. Looking at Ben's face Damian grimaced, Ben was paler than before and he looked rather clammy. Touching Ben's head with the back of his head, Damian huffed out, he was cold and that wasn't good. For a second he felt fear grip him, had Ben died while Damian was running?

Thankfully, Ben let out a sudden intake of breath, making Damian sigh out with relief. Shutting the door, he rushed over to the driver side and got in. Putting his key in the ignition his car revved to life and he quickly got out of the forest. Getting onto to the main road, Damian flicked his eyes about making sure they weren't being followed. Twigleg spoke from the back seat suddenly,

"You know, with that security alarm in that building I'm surprised no cops showed-oh..."

Hearing the sound of sirens, Damian watched as at least ten or more cop cars went speeding past them, the cars going the opposite way of them.

"...So, we're going to the hospital now, right?" Twigleg asked softly.

"Out of the question. We'd get caught in a heart beat...No...We need to go somewhere safe. I've treated burns that bad before, I can do it again..." Damian shakily breathed out.

"But where!? Where is a good safe place for him!? Motels?! You get so startled we normally have to leave after two hours of sleep!" Twigleg demanded and Damian just looked slowly pulled off the side of the road they were on. Turning around to Twigleg, he looked over at Ben and licked his lips nervously.

"...I know a place...And you know this place as well..."

* * *

Barnabas Greenbloom chuckled as he watched his three-year-old son, Jackson, eating his cereal sloppily with his spoon. The little tyke had his bright red hair and blue eyes. Still, looking into Jackson's eyes reminded Barnabas of Ben sometimes. in fact, a lot of things reminded all of the Greenblooms of their missing family member. Waking up to the voicemail was the most devastating thing they all heard. Of course, Atticus practically kicked their door down the next day with Oliver in tow.

Oliver Pearson, Ben's biological father, the poor man looked beyond guilty. The two of them explained what had happened, why Atticus went missing for a few days and why Oliver had to leave Ben alone for a few hours. It was all a set up for someone to take Ben and run, and this time, Ben wasn't taken against his will, Ben willingly went with whoever this mastermind was.

That was three years ago. No calls from Ben, except for the one, nothing. Still, they continued to move on,

Guinevere moved on to college, thankfully the one in town close to them so she didn't need to live in a dorm. Barnabas and Vita both retired from their jobs and were now raising Jackson, the youngest Greenbloom. Atticus searched for a while, but eventually went back to Ireland to be with his family, he'll call from time to time. They dropped contact with Oliver, last they heard about him was that he was rehiring his old Private investigator to see if he could see who sent the two goons to his loft.

Today was an average slow day, Guinevere was sitting at the breakfast table reading her academic books while eating some breakfast, Vita and Barnabas were both reading the newspaper and Jackson was still eating his cereal. Jackson was making some random noises as he ate, aside from that it was a quiet morning.

That quietness didn't last as the sound of someone banging as hard as they could on their door.

"What the hell." Guinevere jumped as she shut her book. Barnabas stood from his seat and walked over to the door, Guinevere right behind him, most likely just curious. Barnabas grasped the handle and opened his door. His eyes suddenly widened at the sight before him.

There was a teenager at his door, the teen had faded blue hair tied back into a ponytail. That's not what caused his reaction, it was Ben slumped over the guy's shoulder, his right arm and back burned horribly as he was clearly unconscious. Both Barnabas and Guinevere stood there, so stunned they couldn't say anything. The teenager was the first one to break the silence,

"Well...Are you going to let us in, or are you going to let Ben slowly die?"


	2. Chapter 2

_"...It's been four days since we last ate. I'm starving." Ben spoke coolly to Damian, the blue haired nineteen-year-old laying back in the driver's seat, trying but failing to sleep._

 _"I'm hungry too, but, we have no money and you refuse to steal again," Damian responded bitterly as he opened one of his bottle-green eyes to look at Ben in the passenger's seat._

 _"I'm not really all that hungry," Twigleg spoke up from Ben's shoulder and Ben gave him a scoff,_

 _"You eat bugs, and Damian, if we don't get something to eat here soon, I swear to god I will eat you right here right now." Ben snapped rather bitterly to Damian's nonchalant response._

 _"That's cannibalism, and I'm pretty sure that's illegal." Damian laughed softly as he turned to his side to look at Ben._

 _"What are you going to do? Call the cops? ...Food. Now." Ben growled as he bitterly pushed Damian's head back._

 _"Urg. Fine. But you have to steal it." Damian sighed out and pulled his seat up, he then started up the car and started to drive off of the side of the road._

 _"I'm fine with stealing food. It's stealing...Oh, I don't know, the mayor's credit card that I tend to get a little bitter and uptight." Ben commented as he crossed his arms angrily._

 _"Hey, that was two years ago, and plus we got a thousand dollars."_

 _"That clearly didn't last us. Otherwise, I wouldn't be complaining to you about food right now...Are we...Close to the Greenblooms?" Ben asked as he looked out the window._

 _"...No." Damian hesitated as he stared wide-eyed out the window, looking at the town around them._

 _Ben just turned his head and looked at Damian, his blue eyes big and sad. Damian just shut his eyes and shook his head bitterly,_

 _"No, Ben, absolutely not."_

 _"It's been three years! They haven't been caught! Please! I just want to tell them I'm fine!"_

 _"No! Don't risk it, Ben. Please...Just take my advice."_

 _Ben sighed and leaned back in his seat defeated. Damian looked at the forlorn face on Ben and gave a small smile._

 _"Hey, I did pick up a surprise for you, it's in the glove compartment."_

 _"Is it food?"_

 _"Well you can eat it, but, from experience, it tastes awful."_

 _Ben pursed his lips to the side and leaned forward to open the glove box._

 _"...Oh, Damian. Aren't you thoughtful." Ben commented as he pulled out the box of cigarettes._

 _"Yeah...We can't go back to Manchester for a while, I'm sure the store owner is waiting for me with a baseball bat."_

 _"Huh. Well, thank you." Ben commented as he smacked the packaged against the palm of his hand a few times. Twigleg gave a bitter hmph and sat down on Ben's shoulder, glaring daggers at Damian._

 _"Don't be mad, Twigleg, everyone has their addictions. Ben's is cancer and mine is empty calories and endless junk food." Damian laughed softly his shoulders shaking up and down as he laughed._

 _"Want one?" Ben offered one towards Damian as he drove._

 _"Then again, I won't say no to some cancer."_

 _Damian took the cigarette and leaned forward towards Ben who connected the two of them with the end of his cigarette, springing his lighter to life, he lit the two of them up and they both rolled their windows down. Blowing their smoke, Twigleg let out a bitter huff and crossed his arms in a pout as he also puffed out his cheeks._

 _"You both are going to die young!" He argued to the two of them and Damian leaned forward and poked Twigleg's nose playfully,_

 _"We're all going to die one day. No, use in prolonging it..."_

Damian sighed as he gently moved a cup under the cool bath water and gently brought the cup over Ben's burnt arm and poured the water lightly over the shoulder. Ben shuddered out but didn't wake. After Barnabas allowed them in, Damian decided the best course of action was to put Ben in the tub to save the Greenblooms a bloody couch. Ben laying fast asleep in pink water all the way to his chest. Thankfully, Damian only had to remove Ben's shirt from his body and save Ben's dignity.

"...H-How is he?" Barnabas asked from the doorway.

"He stopped bleeding, that's good, but...He's going to scar horribly...I hope he still has use of his arm." Damian breathed out as he gently moved some more water over the wound.

"I'm not a doctor...Well, I am. But I'm not that kind of doctor, but, what I'm trying to say is, couldn't he get an infection?"

"It's a possibility..." Damian told him, Ben let out a grimace but didn't wake, Damian cringed when Ben suddenly let out a painful gasp.

"I have some pain meds-"

"No. We need something strong...I'll be back." Damian stood and started to walk out of the bathroom, Barnabas grabbed Damian's arm and tugged him back,

"Wait, you can't just leave!"

"I'll be back! I swear, look Twigleg is watching after him!" Damian pointed to the quiet and shaking Twigleg sitting on the sink watching Ben like a hawk.

"Twigleg is three inches tall!"

"I'll be back!" He finally snapped and pulled his arm away from Barnabas angrily. "...Also, Call Oliver. He can help with this." With that Damian turned and stormed away, leaving Barnabas in the bathroom. Slowly, Barnabas sat down on the edge of the tub and looked at Ben. Sighing softly, he gently patted Ben's oily hair. His eyes fell past the horrific scar traveling down Ben's body and more towards Ben's ribs and stomach.

"...You're so skinny...Oh...Ben..." He sighed out softly and patted Ben's face. "I can't believe this happened..."

Moving down from the tub and on the floor, Barnabas reached over and hugged Ben with one arm.

"I'm never letting you leave like that again..."

"I want to see him!" Guinevere fought with her father angrily. Jackson let out a whimper as he clung to Vita's neck desperately.

"Absolutely not! Guinevere, his burns are horrible! Plus knowing you, you'd hit him while he's unconscious!" Barnabas argued back. He suddenly jumped when the door opened, in came Damian, a different and brand new backpack on and over his shoulder.

"I will not! Plus, I...I swear Damian looks familiar!" Guinevere yelled directly at Damian who stood there an almost scared look on his face.

"It's been two hours! Where the hell did you go!?" Barnabas yelled at Damian furiously, completely ignoring his daughter for the moment.

"I had to get a lot of things."

Damian walked back to the bathroom and Barnabas just waved his arms a bit before walking with Damian, Guinevere tried to follow, but Barnabas just turned and put his index finger up sternly, stopping her in her tracks. Turning his back to his daughter, Barnabas continued to follow Damian.

"Guinevere!" Vita scolded her daughter with a gasp, Barnabas didn't want to know what his daughter did to deserve a scolding like that, and he didn't want to know. Closing the bathroom door behind him, he watched as Damian opened the bag and pulled out syringe needle fresh from a package.

"Where the hell did you get that?!"

"Don't ask." Damian then pulled out a small container and injected the needle into it pulling the syringe a bit he sucked in whatever was in the container into the syringe.

"...What is...That?"

"Morphine."

Damian tilted Ben's head to the side and stuck him with the needle before injecting Ben with the medicine. Slowly everything started to click to Barnabas as he watched Ben suddenly relax into the tub, Ben almost fell into the water but Damian managed to pull him up.

"...Barnabas? Guinevere called me, something about an emergency with Ben?"

"Who is that?" Damian asked Barnabas who walked over to the door and opened it.

"Atticus."

"...Oh my god..." Atticus breathed out as his eyes fell on Ben in the tub. Pushing past Barnabas and Damian, Atticus crouched down and gently touched Ben's face. He then turned to Damian and Barnabas saw the murder flash in Atticus's eyes and quickly grabbed the vampire holding him back from Damian.

In a brief moment, Atticus tried to lunge at Damian, who jumped back against the wall screaming out rather unmanly.

"YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!"

"I didn't do anything! It was a dragon!"

"DRAGONS WOULD NEVER HURT BEN!"

"Atticus! Calm down! CALM DOWN!" Barnabas yelled back as he pulled Atticus back harshly.

"Atticus it's true! It was a dragon! But not a silver dragon!" Twigleg screamed as Atticus continued to fight against Barnabas. They both struggled against one another until Atticus managed to push himself and Barnabas back, causing Barnabas to hit his tailbone against the edge of the sink. Barnabas let go of Atticus as he cried out in pain and clutched his back in pain. Atticus suddenly grabbed Damian and slammed him against the wall angrily.

"Ok, let's say a dragon did do that to Ben. You still did this to me!" Atticus snarled and lifted his neck to show the faded jagged scar across his neck.

"...I don't even know you!" Damian yelled out as he tried to get out of Atticus's grip.

"Bullshit! I was stuck in a car paralyzed for two days because of you!"

"It wasn't me! and how would you of survived with your neck slit open!?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT I AM!" Atticus screamed loudly as he shook Damian violently.

"N-No I don't!" Damian cried out. "What are you?! Deranged?! Insane!? I don't know!"

"Atticus! Let go of him! Enough!" Barnabas grabbed Atticus and pulled him off of Damian once more. Atticus let out a huff and suddenly Damian's eyes went wide once everything clicked for him,

"Wait, you're the vampire!"

"Took you long enough!"

"I swear to god. I never attacked you! I may be an ass at times but I'm not suicidal!"

Atticus snatched himself out of the professor's grasp once more and stood in front of Damian.

"And I'm not an idiot. I was attacked by a person with blue hair and green eyes, and you're telling me, the person with blue hair and green eyes standing in front of me did not attack me?"

"Hey man, go on Tumblr, you'll find a bunch of people with blue hair and green eyes." Damian tried to joke but Atticus went for him again.

"Atticus! please! Not in here!" Barnabas yelled Atticus had a harsh grip on Damian's jacket, a vicious snarl on his face.

"Hey, no vampire teeth. Cool." Damian commented as he poked Atticus's upper lip upwards and Atticus pushed him to the wall, causing him to fall down against the wall.

"Fine. When you're brave enough. I'll be in the kitchen." Atticus hissed as he gave one last sympathetic look to Ben, Where Barnabas now was, keeping Ben from slipping into the water. With a heel turn, Atticus stormed out.

"I'm sorry, he's rather-" Barnabas started to Damian, who finished the sentence,

"Protective of Ben? Yeah, got it..." Damian groaned out as he pushed himself off of the wall. He then shook his head, "I swear to god, I didn't attack him. I don't a rift between riders..."

"Don't tell me. Tell him."

"Right. You comin'?"

"And leave him to drown? No."

"Oh right!" Damian reached into his bag, which thankfully didn't get too harmed in the small scuffle between him and Atticus, pulling out a set of handcuffs, he grabbed Ben's good arm and cuffed it to the metal bar on the wall to the bathtub. "There we go."

"Where did you...You know what. I don't want to know. Let's go." Barnabas got up from the tub and let out a painful hiss as he rubbed his back. "Atticus did a number on my back, I might need to get it checked out." He breathed out painfully. Damian didn't respond as he left the bathroom first.

Barnabas turned to Twigleg who was still sitting on the sink quietly his eyes still focused on Ben.

"You want to come?" Barnabas asked as he brought his arm out for Twigleg.

"No. I want to make sure he's alright."

"...Ok..."

Walking out of the bathroom, it didn't surprise Barnabas to hear a screaming fight between Damian and Atticus in the kitchen. Upon going into the room, he found only Guinevere was there, Vita must of taken Jackson away, good choice.

"IT WASN'T ME! I WOULDN'T ATTACK YOU!"

"OH!? SO, JUST SOME RANDOM DOPPELGANGER OR SHAPESHIFTER FELT THE NEED TO SLIT MY THROAT OPEN AND INJECT ME WITH GARLIC!?"

"I GUESS!"

"Hey!" Guinevere cut in getting in between the two men, her arms out stopping Atticus from going in for another attack. "Atticus, I called you because Ben is currently injured. I didn't call you to have you snap this douche's neck." She snapped as she pointed to Damian.

"...You say you didn't attack me?" Atticus asked Damian lowering his voice to nothing more than a growl now.

"I didn't!" Damian spat back.

"Ok...But here's all that lead up to me being attacked them, Ben, had already mentioned you, you tracked him down at school and told him about the quest you wanted him to go on. I suddenly come into the picture two days before you want to take him away and I get lead into a trap. This 'attacker' that isn't you mentions Ben as I'm on the verge of blacking out. This attacker looks like you and sounds like you, but it's not you, what? Do you have a twin?"

Damian opened his mouth to respond to Atticus, but there was a knock on the door and everyone just looked at one another before Barnabas walked up to the door and opened it.

"Oliver...Hey, come on in." Barnabas said as he stepped to the side, allowing Oliver to come in, Oliver paused suddenly at the site of Atticus.

"Oh good, the man that cost me thousand of dollars in therapy sessions, who also almost cost me my job as it's rather hard to explain to people that the dead man came back to life on the table and stole scrubs from us, and he's the same person that caused Doctor Lapari to go insane...Is here as well." Oliver spoke rather disdainfully to Atticus.

Atticus instantly turned his attention from Damian to Oliver, his head rolling in the man's direction as he stared Oliver down.

Oliver looked at Damian, his eyes narrowing a bit.

"...You're the kid who broke into my home!"

"How do you figure?" Damian challenged with a rather condescending smug look on his face.

"Cameras, jackass, I have them all over my flat...Your fighting is impressive, I'll give you that...Where is my son?"

"Bathroom." Damian pointed off towards the bathroom, instantly everyone, even Atticus, looked away from Oliver as he looked towards the bathroom, his mouth wide.

"He's hurt." Damian quickly spoke to Oliver, causing the man to look at him. "He's hurt bad. We need a doctor. I have the medicine...But I'd rather have an actual medical professional help him."

Oliver practically ran off towards the bathroom, Nobody raced after him.

Leaning his back against the dining table, one leg propped out slightly, Damian simply started to count down,

"Five...Four...Three...Two..." He paused suddenly and looked at his dirty nails before continuing softly, "...One."

"OH MY GOD!" Everyone heard Oliver scream in horror. Barnabas started to walk away, probably to go and console Oliver before he even got into the hallway, Oliver was already lunging for Damian. Nobody stopped him as he managed to grab Damian by the collar and slam the teen into the wall.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?"

"Oh for Christ sake! If I would have done this then why would I go to get him somewhere safe for him to heal!? WHY WOULD I INSIST ON CALLING YOU IF I DONE THAT TO HIM! YOU KNOW I'M GETTING KIND OF SICK OF BEING ACCUSED RIGHT NOW!" Damian finally screamed back as he pushed Oliver off of him. Oliver took a step back and slowly regained himself as he slicked his hair back and took a few deep breaths.

"You've both been gone for three years...You took him with you...Suddenly, you show up and he's so injured he needs immediate medical attention...What do you expect me to do?"

"Grin and help. Hospitals are out of the question and you are the closest thing we have to a medical doctor that might have some clue how to heal an injury this big."

"You really want my help and advice on this?" Oliver questioned crossing his arms bitterly as he looked Damian dead in the eyes.

"Yes!"

"...A third-degree burn that bad?... I once cut opened a person who had a third-degree burn on over half of his leg. He tried to self-treat it...He died hours later from blood loss...Then there was his wife, she had a burn on her left arm similar to Ben's, She didn't die, but she lost her arm. Third-degree burns can't be self-treated! He needs a hospital! TAKE HIM TO A HOSPITAL!"

"I...Can't."

"DAMMIT!" Atticus yelled out then he shrugged, "Fine. You can't. But I can!"

"I'm with them on this...He needs a hospital, or he'll die." Barnabas spoke up and Guinevere suddenly clutched on to her dad's head, clearly supporting him as well, Barnabas got in front of Damian and brought his hand out.

"The key to the handcuff, it's for the best."

"You don't understand...I'm not doing this to be a dick! Dammit! We're criminals! He'll go to jail or prison or worse! I'm thinking about him here!" He snapped at them, everyone went quiet as Damian walked over to the nearest wall and sighed out.

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked softly to Damian, Damian let out a sigh and gently moved his head back as he hit the wall softly.

"...We're criminals...We broke into homes and stole purses just to survive these last three years. Our faces are practically plastered up in every police station in the UK. We take him to a hospital...He's going to jail." Damian explained in a gentle voice. Oliver let out another sigh and bit his lip in thought. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Oliver just let out a bitter huff,

"You said you had medicine in there?"

"Yeah, the backpack on the floor."

"What kind?"

"Take your pick, I stole it all from an ambulance."

Oliver opened his mouth and sighed again before shaking his head,

"Did you get a saline bag? Syringes? Tubes?"

"Yes." Damian shooed Oliver away, who turned and walked towards the bathroom, once he was away and out of earshot, Barnabas spoke up,

"So, What else did you guys do that made you wanted criminals?"

"...We broke into universities and labs...We freed three dragons in the past three years. The head scientist wants our heads on a pike and is hunting us down. We go to the hospital, we'll be sitting ducks."

"Please," Atticus growled bitterly as he threw his hands down and turned away towards the bathroom. Damian watched him walked away.

"Is this true?" Barnabas asked him and he nodded numbly, his eyes downcast as he stared at the floor.

"Look, I know Atticus is a little unbelieving right now, but do understand he's just upset with Ben being...Well...Horrifically injured." Barnabas sighed and gently patted Damian's shoulder. "I'm going to go and check on him."

With that, Barnabas walked away from Damian. Damian looked at Guinevere, who frowned and turned her head away from Damian before storming away towards the restroom. Damian just leaned his head back and slid down the wall. Bringing his hands to his face, he could only shake his head and squeeze his eyes shut.

They all made valid points, but, he knew he needed to protect Ben from James Marrs.

Still, Ben could lose his arm, or worse, die.

What was he going to do?


	3. Chapter 3

Dinner was awkward, to say the least, Oliver refused to leave Ben's side, Twigleg was forced to jump into Barnabas's pocket because of it, Vita wasn't exactly planning on feeding seven people so she made simple spaghetti and bread for them. Damian sat between Guinevere and Jackson, Atticus was in front of him on the other side, the only one without a plate in front of him. Jackson had to sit on a stack of phonebooks just to reach the table top. Damian made the mistake of looking at Jackson, the three-year-old felt it funny to throw a small handful of food at him.

"You mind controlling your son?" Damian asked rather bitterly as he wiped the spaghetti off of his jacket.

"I tried, but, you took him and now he's in my bathtub slowly dying." Barnabas quipped darkly in response to Damian's bitterness. There was a silence as Damian continued to eat. Atticus raised an eyebrow as he watched Damian stuff forkful after forkful of food into his mouth sloppily, eating at a fast rate like it was his last meal. Damian did lean over his plate, which was welcome, still...

Damian then started to slurp his spaghetti down and that was the final straw for Atticus.

"Ok...I'm dead. I drink blood, and yet, I still have better table manners than you." Atticus spoke up to Damian, Damian lifted his head a bit to reveal sauce all over his mouth, almost mimicking Jackson's own sauce covered face, a lone noodle hanging loosely out of Damian's mouth. Damian only slurped the noodle in response and grabbed his paper towel to wipe his face clean.

"Sorry, it's been three days since I last ate. I'm a tad hungry." Damian responded to Atticus nonchalantly. Damian then continue to eat at a fast rate and then with his mouth still partially full, he spoke,

"You know, I have a question..." He paused to swallow his food before continuing, "What's it like being eternally impotent?"

Guinevere suddenly spits out her food, onto her plate, thankfully.

"Ok, that is not something we discuss in front of a three-year-old!" Vita shouted, her face turning red from embarrassment. Atticus looked like he could leap over the table and rip Damian's neck wide open.

"...I'm not...That." Atticus finally said to Damian with gritted teeth.

"Oh right, half vampire...So...half impotent?"

"If you bring that up again I swear to god I will make you sleep outside!" Vita seethed to Damian, Damian just went back to eating in response. He could feel Atticus glaring holes at his head as he ate.

"You know, I have a question for you? How is that someone, who was sixteen at the time, manage to travel across the pond? I mean, it's clear at this point that you have no parents. Your table manners told me that..." Atticus asked as he looked at Damian, Damian pursed his lips bitterly and lifted his head up glaring at Atticus.

"It isn't obvious? I'm a dragon rider."

Atticus scoffed out in response while everyone just looked at Damian like he grew two heads.

"Oh please, There's only one dragon rider, and he's handcuffed to the bathtub."

"Say's the third dragon rider."

"Ok I WAS a dragon rider at one point, but I am no longer one. My dragon moved on away from me. You're just lying through your teeth." Atticus stated matter-of-factly.

Damian pulled out his phone and sighed softly, scrolling through his pictures, he found the one he was looking for and showed it to Atticus.

"That's Issiah...My dragon." Damian growled as Atticus gently took his phone out of his hand to examined the picture more closely. It was, in all honesty, Damian's favorite and only picture of Issiah. It had been when he first traveled with Issiah. The dragon had been asleep at the time, curled up in a ball like a cat. It showed everything beautiful about Issiah, his blue scales shimmering in the sun-mimicking the look of the ocean, his black horns contrasting against the light pink sky greatly, his black spine did as well.

"...Why isn't he with you?"

"He was taken...We landed in...Somewhere in England, I went to a small town to get some supplies and when I came back there was a big struggle. I tried to help him, they almost caught me with him, though, I just remember..."

He paused suddenly as the memory slowly resurfaced in his mind.

 _"Issiah!"_

 _Running as fast as his feet could take him he could hear Issiah yelling and thrashing about wildly. Seeing the people all crowd around his dragon, ropes on all sides of Issiah, trying to keep him still._

 _"Don't think so!" Damian felt someone grab him from behind as the people suddenly threw a net over Issiah._

 _"Let go of me!" Damian screamed as he managed to get out of the person's grip, turning around to face the person his face feel and he angrily shook his head from side to side before spitting into the person's face, he then spoke,_

 _"I can't believe you..." Damian breathed out with a scared headshake as he looked at the person. Rage slowly filled up Damian and with no warning, he balled up both of his fists and swung his arms, using all of his strength he hit the other person in the stomach as hard as he could. The person doubled over crying out in pain._

 _"Stop him!" Someone screamed at Damian, quickly Damian ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He could hear the others trying to catch up to him, making his way back down to the small town, Damian ran through the sidewalk as he could hear the others slowly fading off, their voices being drowned out by the sound of cars and people in the streets._

 _Turning to look back behind him, Damian let out a low sigh as he realized they were no longer behind him._

 _"Hey!"_

 _Feeling himself collide with another, Damian quickly grabbed the other person by the arms so neither of them fell. Damian looked up to see another boy around his age, black curly hair, blue eyes, pale skin. He had on a beany, protecting his ears from the cold weather, The boy then gave Damian a look and just chuckled,_

 _"You can let go of me now."_

 _Damian did just that, he didn't say anything, he just looked back and then turned back to the boy._

 _"Anyway. Err..Happy holidays, you weird bloke." The boy chuckled as he walked away from Damian. Damian watched the boy walk away, his hands in his pockets as he continued on without a second thought..._

"...It was the first time I met Ben..." Damian breathed out loud, not caring that he had literally been staring off into space for the past five minutes.

"What?" Guinevere asked him softly.

"Did he help you get away?" Barnabas questioned along with his daughter.

"No...I just...Ran into him ...I almost knocked him down." Damian turned away, deep in thought. He didn't say like for long as Oliver finally returned from the bathroom, wiping his hands clean with a towel.

"Well, I wrapped him up to the best of my abilities...We just need to move him out of the bathtub." Oliver spoke as he threw the towel in the trash. Damian and Atticus both stood up and just turned to look at one another.

"I got it, Dickless."

Damian snapped as he turned to walk with Oliver.

"I'm going to kill him." Atticus huffed out as he sat back down at the table.

"I think we all are." Barnabas sighed out with a headshake.

* * *

"Ok, again, I'm not that kind of doctor, but I'm pretty sure you shouldn't carry him like that," Oliver muttered softly as he looked at Damian, Ben over Damian's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"You want to get him in a bed or not?" Damian grunted, "Besides its the easiest way up the stairs."

Walking out of the bathroom, Damian walked quickly up the stairs,

"Wait! you don't know what room was his!" Oliver yelled as he followed Damian,

"Who says I don't! Don't forget I spent a good while stalking him!" Damian countered as he turned.

"They probably changed it for Jackson."

Damian opened the door and blinked at the room, no, they didn't change it for the toddler. Granted he's never been inside Ben's bedroom before, but it shows that the room hadn't been touched since Ben left. A rather thick layer of dust laid on top of everything, a few cobwebs hung over the still fan up on the ceiling, his bed, made, but rather sloppily made like whoever made it didn't care or was in a hurry.

Oliver walked passed Damian and put a hand on his face as he looked around the dusty room.

"Three years...And they never even touched it...They hoped and prayed he'd come back..." Oliver shook his head softly he then narrowed his eyes and walked up to the bed. Sucking in a deep breath, he grabbed the blanket and pulled it back. Damian took a step forward to put Ben down, but Oliver just stopped him as he held blanket it in his hands, Oliver proceeded to whip the blanket up and down, sending a small bit of dust flying up into the air. He waited for the dust to clear a bit before doing the same with the pillow on the bed.

Once the bed was free of dust, he nodded towards Damian. Walking up to the Ben he gently placed him down on the bed. Being mindful of the bandages, Damian pulled the blanket up to Ben, keeping his arms above the blanket as he did so.

"Ok, let's see..." Oliver walked over to the closet and pulled out a hanger, Damian watched as Oliver then proceeded to grab the dusty coat rack by Ben's door and pulled it over. Positioning the hanger on one of the racks upside down, he turned and walked out. Leaving Damian alone with Ben.

"...Thank you...I know you probably can't hear me, but, you've done so much for me these three years...I just wanted to say it...Thank you..." Damian breathed out softly. Looking down, he walking over to Ben's nightstand and pulled the drawer out.

"Sly dog." He muttered as he pulled the dusty carton of cigarettes out, finding a lighter he pulled one of the cigarettes out of the carton and into his mouth, bringing the lighter to life he inhaled on it, only to start coughing horribly.

"Urg. Expired. Figures." He muttered as he cringed at the stale taste. "Well, at least now you don't need Atticus to buy you some." Damian laughed at to himself. Oliver came back into the room, the saline bag in his arms as well as an IV needle and tubing. He stopped when he saw Damian smoking.

"Sorry, I smoke when I'm nervous. I'll leave."

With that, Damian walked passed Oliver and down the stairs, cigarette still smoking between his lips.

Vita wasn't exactly kind to smoking around her three-year-old, Damian found out, as she angrily ushered him out into the cold.

"Out! Not around him, that is simply one thing I won't stand for!" She ordered as she threw Damian out into the back yard, slamming the sliding door shut as she did so.

Damian only chuckled softly and continued to smoke his stale cigarette. His fingers started to turn numb, and his body shake from the dropping temperature outside. Not even five minutes later, Atticus came out.

"If you came here to fight with me, you can just leave," Damian ordered.

"Who's Info-guy?"

"What-"

Patting his pockets Damian realized he accidently left his phone with Atticus, not his brightest move.

"Give me that!" He ordered once he spotted his phone in Atticus's hand. Snatching it back, he snarled as he looked at the message.

"I didn't read it, I only saw the name." Atticus simply said to Damian.

"He's just that. The guy who I get my information from. He can get me layouts of the buildings and tell me where the next dragon is."

"Still going along with this silly prank. Look, just admit that something happened with a fire and Ben got burned-"

"Wow. It just amazes me how much you are denying this. You know, Da Nile, isn't just a river in Egypt, buddy." Damian responded bitterly as he flicked his cigarette out. Turning he walked back into the much-needed warmth. Walking back up the stairs towards Ben's room, he stopped in the doorway, the professor, and Oliver were both there. Oliver had just finished putting the saline bag up, while Barnabas was sitting at the end of Ben's bed looking at his adopted son longingly.

"...I wanted him to come back so bad...Everyone did. When him and Twi..." Barnabas stopped himself from revealing Twigleg to Oliver by coughing at the end of that. "When he left, he sounded so upset, we all figured...'Oh, he'll be back, he's leaving on his own terms, of course, he'll come back!'...And he did, but not in the way we wanted. None of us wanted this."

Damian slowly started to walk over to Barnabas, before he could do anything, Oliver beat him to it and placed a hand on Barnabas's shoulder.

"What matters is he's back. It'll take a while, but hopefully, he'll make a decent recovery."

Damian slowly slunk back against the wall and looked away from the two of them. Without a second thought, he turned and walked out of the room. Jogging down the stairs, he stopped when he saw Atticus at the base of the stairs looking like he was ready to come up to see Ben. The two of them locked eyes, Damian could see that Atticus's blue eyes were clearly contacts, barely hiding his real color.

"Hey." Damian lifelessly greeted Atticus as he got to the bottom of the stairs. Atticus frowned at him a bit before just ignoring his greeting and jogged up the stairs.

Damian stood there, gently tapping the railing with his finger, before finally turning and silently walking up the stairs. Quietly walking to Ben's room, Damian stayed away from the open door and just listened to what they were talking about.

"No confio en el..." Atticus spoke, clearly in Spanish.

"Yo tampoco." Oliver agreed with him.

"Es obvio que le importa Ben," Barnabas spoke up and Atticus responded with a scoff,

"¿Cómo sabemos que no le hizo esto a Ben?" Atticus asked and Damian leaned against the doorway, Atticus had his back turned, but both Barnabas and Oliver looked uncomfortable as he stood there.

"Si quisiera matar a Ben, no lo traería aquí. Yo lo mataría." Damian responded matter of factly, causing Atticus to spin around and look at him wide eyed.

"Oh sí, hablo español." Damian shrugged smugly with a smile on his face as Atticus looked at him, hatred in his eyes. "Ayuda a ser colombiano."

"You're Colombian? But I thought-" Barnabas cut in and Damian cut him off,

"You thought I was just some lazy American that never bothered to learn a second language, right? Well you're wrong. I was born in Colombia, raised there for a little bit, then my family moved to America after my brother got a job." Damian shrugged he then turned and glared at Atticus, it was at this moment that Damian realized that they were almost the exact same height as he stared into Atticus's fake colored eyes. "By the way, Atticus." Damian spoke, he paused for a second before speaking once more,

"No hables de mí detrás de mi espalda y trata de enmascararlo como otro idioma. Sé más de lo que piensas. Dickless"

Atticus paused, his lips pursed as he was clearly angry at the whole situation, for a second he didn't say anything, he just stood there, brooding, before he finally spoke up,

"Je ne te fais pas confiance!"

Damian put a hand on his hip and eyed Atticus up and down, Atticus looking like he just won some great battle because he changed languages,

"Français? Vraiment? Je n'ai pas confiance en vous non plus." Damian responded before turning around and walking out of the room.

He sighed out with triumph the moment he heard Ben's door slam shut behind him.

"He'll come around." He said happily to himself before going downstairs. He was getting pretty tired. Grabbing his coat off of the rack by the door, he threw it on, only to sudden hear Vita's voice.

"Are you leaving?" She sounded worried.

"No, just going to get some sleep."

"Oh, you can sleep on the couch-"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, thank you for the offer. But I really prefer to sleep in my car."

"Oh no, don't. It's going to drop to -17 degrees tonight, you'll catch your death out there."

"Er...-17...That should be...0 In Fahrenheit? I've slept in my car in colder weather." He told her as he wrapped his scarf around his neck.

"Please...Don't leave." She whispered, Damian turned her, he could see it, she wasn't afraid that he'd die in the cold, she just didn't want him to abandon them right now.

"Look, I'm not leaving. With Atticus's car behind me and Oliver's car parked on curb, I literally can't. I'm just going to get some sleep. Besides, I'd never leave Ben, not while he's like this. Like I said, just going to get some needed sleep." He reassured her. Turning, he walked out of the front door and out towards his car. The cold weather hit his face like a blast, making his nose turn numb almost instantly. Walking towards his car, he fished his keys out of his pocket and shakily opened his door. Getting into the driver's seat, he shook like a leaf as the coldness hit his body. Shutting the door he reached into the back and pulled out a thick blanket. Wrapping himself in the blanket like he was in a cocoon, Damian laid his head back and allowed himself to drift into much-needed sleep.

 **Ok, so here are the translated for the conversations, keep in mind I got these from Google translate so they might not be 100% accurate.**

Atticus: I don't trust him.

Oliver: Neither do I

Barnabas: It's obvious he cares for Ben.

Atticus: How do we know that he didn't do this to Ben?

Damian: If I wanted to kill Ben, I wouldn't bring him here, I would kill him.

Damian (Again): Oh yes, I speak Spanish, it helps that I'm Colombian.

Damian (for the third time): Do not talk about me behind my back and try to mask it as another language. I know more than you think. Dickless.

Atticus (now speaking French): I don't trust you!

Damian: French? Really? I don't trust you either.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben had no idea what exactly woke him up. It could have been the two people downstairs currently having a screaming match with one another. It could have been his arm, which not only felt like it was on fire but he also realized he couldn't move his arm, at all. Or was it the little child that decided to snuggle himself under Ben's arm good?

Blinking, Ben slowly turned his head to look at the child. The child had bright orange hair, no freckles, but he did have dimples on the corners of his cheeks, he also had blue eyes that seemed to shine the moment Ben looked at him. Ben watched as the child suddenly smiled brightly at him and snuggled closer,

"Bwig men yelling are scwary." The child told Ben softly as he hid himself in Ben's chest.

Ben let out a soft groan and looked around the room from his side, odd, this looked like his room. Moving up, he cried out softly and clutched his arm. Looking down at it, he saw the wrapping around his arm, keeping it still. Feeling something tug against his bad arm, he slowly reached up and looked down. Seeing a tube he followed it up and saw the almost empty saline bag. That was when he looked away from the bag and around the room.

"He...Didn't..." Ben growled the moment he realized this was his room.

Looking back at the child still close to him, Ben let out a sigh and pulled the needle out of his arm with a groan. Feeling blood drip from his now open wound, he clutched his arm with his good hand and got up from the bed. The kid whimpered and followed suit. Ben felt his legs wobble and buckle a bit before he walked towards the door.

"I'm going to kill him," Ben muttered under his breath, the child clung to the back of Ben's pants but Ben gave him no mind as he left the room. He could hear the fight, between Damian and Atticus he could tell, get louder.

"OH, OF COURSE! YOU JUST HAVE TO BE IN CONTROL! RIGHT!?" Damian screamed.

"IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING IN CONTROL! IT'S ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU CLEARLY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" Atticus yelled back.

"AND YOU DO?! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THE SHIT I DO!"

Ben slowly walked down the steps, not to keep listening, but just so he would fall. Clutching the railing so hard he could feel his knuckles against his skin.

"NO! IT'S CLEARLY NOT THAT! I'M RIGHT AREN'T I?! THAT YOU'RE LYING THROUGH THIS WHOLE THING! YOU HURT BEN! IT'S SO OBVIOUS!" Atticus responded back.

"I TOLD YOU ALREADY, DICKLESS, I DIDN'T HURT HIM!"

Getting to the last few steps, Ben could see them, both red in the face, looking like they were ready to punch each other. Guinevere, Barnabas, Vita, and Oliver were all sitting at the table, just watching the two interact.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

"OH! AM I HURTING THE BIG BAD VAMPIRE'S FEELINGS?!"

"HEY!" Ben finally yelled out causing everyone, absolutely everyone, to look at him. Before anyone could approach him, he walked up to the two and quickly turned to Atticus,

"Atticus, I don't know exactly what this fight is about, but, I will say, he didn't hurt me it was a dragon, a big black dragon," Ben explained, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Damian giving Atticus a smug look. He quickly turned to Damian and pointed at him with his good hand with a bitter snarl on his lips, he spoke to him,

"YOU! Never! and I mean, NEVER! Talk to Atticus like that again! He is a good friend and I owe him my life! I don't know who you think you are right now-" Ben started to walk forward and Damian took a step back, hands up in defense once he realized Ben wasn't fooling around, "-But the fact that you got not only the Greenblooms involved in this and the fact that you're coming in here and disrespecting not only them but my friends as well-" Damian was up against the wall, eyes wide as Ben continued to scold him, "-I am not impressed with you."

"Ben-"

"NO! You get no excuses for this. So shut up!"

Ben dropped his good arm and groaned softly clutching his stomach as a hunger pang hit him hard.

"I was just going to say...You're bleeding." Damian breathed out pointing to Ben's arm. Blood moving between his fingers and down his arm no matter how hard he squeezed.

Damian slowly reached over and moved Ben's arm to the side so he could get a look at the wound.

"Was pulling the IV out necessary?" Damian could only tsk. Honestly, he half expected Atticus to push him out of the way so he could maybe look at the wound. However, when he looked over towards Atticus, he saw the man now all the way over at the other side of the room, hand over his mouth and nose, almost like he was in shock. He couldn't stop the little quip leaving his mouth as he applied pressure to Ben's wound,

"What's the matter, Vampire? Can't handle a little blood?-OW!"

Ben had suddenly smacked him as hard as he could across the head.

"Moron." Ben seethed, "He doesn't drink human blood! So the smell is...Well..." Ben trailed off and Damian nodded as he slowly started to understand. It was like smelling a nice juicy hot burger but you can't eat it because of personal problems or morals.

"Oh...Sorry..."

There was a silence between everyone as Damian slowly applied a new bandage onto Ben's new wound. Once it was done, Ben let out a groan and moved his arm up and down to test the bandage.

"It'll do-" Ben was suddenly cut off by Guinevere, his step-sister gripping him tightly in a hug. She then, kinda surprisingly, managed to pick Ben up just an inch or two off of the ground.

"Geez, when did you turn into superwoman?" Ben laughed softly and she then put him down...Only so she could slap him so hard across the face everyone heard the crack. Damian couldn't stop the gasp that left his mouth as Ben's head jerked to the side, a red visible hand print slowly starting to form.

"GUINEVERE!" Vita screamed surprised at her daughter rash reaction.

"GOOD LORD!" Barnabas yelled at the same time.

Damian watched as Jackson suddenly ran behind his legs in fear of his sister. He turned to see Oliver, who just had his mouth hung open and Atticus who's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"YOU LEAVE FOR THREE YEARS AND THAT'S WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY TO ME, YOU JACKASS!" She raised her hand again, but Ben caught it with his good hand, Damian honestly expected Ben to be mad or show some sort of anger but he didn't he had amazement in his eyes as he looked at her.

"Still have dragon fire in your blood, I see," Ben responded to her and Guinevere suddenly teared up and hugged him once more.

"What is she bipolar or something?" Damian asked Jackson, who just looked at him confused.

With no warning, Vita slowly walked forward only to stop a few inches away from them, causing both Ben and Guinevere to look at her. Vita let out a shaky breath and seemed like she wanted to hug him, but her arms shook so much she couldn't seem to lift them up far enough. She then let out a soft sob and put her hand to her mouth, trying so hard to not cry. Vita then started to shake her head back and forth and sobbed out before putting both hands to her eyes.

"Hey, Hey. Don't cry." Ben softly told her. Vita then ran up and hugged him with Guinevere. It didn't take much for Oliver and Barnabas to join in on the group hug. Then Atticus joint in, awkwardly trying to hug Ben but just putting his hands around Oliver's and Barnabas's shoulders. It honestly didn't surprise Damian when Jackson ran in and hugged his father's legs. Damian being the only one excluded he just stood there awkwardly moving a bit.

"Oh, just join in, you douche." Atticus offered as he looked at Damian with an eye roll.

Damian actually smiled and quickly rushed in to hug Ben, by placing his arms around Barnabas's and Vita's shoulders.

Ben let out a yelp, and everyone broke away to give him space. He clung onto his bad arm and started letting out painful hisses.

"I have morphine!" Damian yelled and rushed to his bag.

"No, no drugs. Just gimmie a second..." Ben breathed out as he tried to level himself out. His eyes screwed tightly in pain.

Damian felt a familiar feeling of Twigleg trying his hardest to break free from his jacket collar. He tried to stop him, but when it comes to Ben, there's no stopping Twigleg. In a quick movement, Twigleg jumped up, now free.

"What's wrong!? Do you need to rest! Sit! Sit!" Twigleg urged. Oliver let out a sudden scream and backed up, his eyes large as he looked at Twigleg, then with a sudden movement Oliver accidently caught his foot up in the dinner chair and fell back, still screaming out.

"W-W-WHAT?! WHAT IS THAT?!" He shrieked out pointing to Twigleg.

Twigleg clearly took offense to that as he straightened his tiny jacket and crossed his arms he then turned his head and stuck his tongue out at Oliver.

"He's a homunculus. Don't worry, he's friendly." Ben responded between painful gasps.

"You're hurt! GET BACK TO BED!" Twigleg demanded Ben do.

"Twiggy, you just showed yourself...I think it's time to tell Oliver the truth now...But I do agree with Twigleg, Ben get to bed." Atticus told Ben. Ben then stuck his tongue out at the vampire, even though it was obvious he was still in pain. Atticus only responded by grabbing Ben by the ear.

"OW! STOP IT!" Ben yelled out as he struggled against Atticus.

"I raise three children. Now, when I say bed, I mean Bed!"

"I'm hungry! I haven't eaten in days!" Ben fought back and instantly Atticus stopped and turned to Ben,

"Right...That's right...Damian did mention that...Ok..."

Ben silently ate, rather sloppily, not because of his table manners, or lack of food, it was the fact he was trying to eat with his non-dominate hand. Everyone, even Damian, agreed it was probably best if he ate something not so heavy, so he was eating cereal, or trying too.

Everyone sat at the table, just staring at Ben, Ben just looked at them but continued to wolf down his food. Damian made sure to sit next to Oliver. With Twigleg still on Damian's shoulder, it was kind of amusing watching Oliver sweat and squirm as he looked at Twigleg nervously.

It was Atticus that finally caught Oliver up, on everything.

Ben being the dragon rider, the three-month gap when Ben went missing, clone Zenith, absolutely everything. Even his own ties to Ben about the real Zenith. Everything.

"I would say you were all crazy, but I'm staring at a vampire and a tiny human being...Am I the crazy one?..." Oliver breathed out.

Damian felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out, looking at his latest text message, he frowned.

"Oh...No..." He breathed out shaking his head.

"What? Is it Info-guy?" Ben asked, going for the phone, Damian pulled it back and stood up.

"Who?" Guinevere asked, Ben started to fill her in as Damian continued to stare down the recent message. Gently running his tongue against his bottom teeth, he could only sigh and hang his head.

"...Atticus...We have a problem."

Ben looked at Damian wide-eyed as he slowly chewed his food.

"Why does this suddenly concern me?" Atticus asked, crossing one leg over the other, leaning back in his chair, he stared Damian down with a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, why does it suddenly concern him?" Ben asked this time.

"...I just got a text from Info-guy...A dragon was caught...In this area..." He paused as his fingers curled tighter around his phone.

"Okaaay..." Atticus urged him to continue. Damian opened his mouth wide only to close it and use a hand to silently wipe his mouth. Atticus took that opportunity to suddenly shoot up and literally pop the phone from underneath Damian's hand, he caught it quickly and looked at the message.

Everyone watched as he looked at the message and his eyes slowly went wide as he looked up at Damian.

His face was something Ben's never seen as his eyes filled with terror and his mouth hung agape ever so slightly.

"What? What happened? What dragon do they have?" Ben demanded. Damian was the one to speak up, licking his lips nervously, he could only say one name,

"...Kuriana..."


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm going with you!" Ben insisted angrily.

"NO!" Everyone yelled at him at once, Ben rolled his eyes and grabbed Damian by his sleeve, stopping him, Atticus stopped and turned, his eyes filled with fury as he stared Damian down.

"Ben, you aren't going. You, you're taking me." Atticus spoke first to Ben then simply turned to Damian.

"That's the plan." He nodded to Atticus.

"Hell no!" Ben fought.

"Ben, you're injured, critically. You need to rest." Damian spoke softly to him trying to get through to Ben's head. Ben only put his good arm on his hip and pursed his lips as he looked at Damian.

"You can't do this without me. You know that and you think Atticus is going to listen to anything you have to say?"

"Hey." Atticus simply spoke up, clearly offended,

"Were you really going to have him lead?"

"...Ah...No."

"See! Let me go with, I know how to do everything! This!" Ben paused and pointed to his injured arm, "Is nothing! Let me come with!"

Damian let out a sigh as he wiped his brow, he seemed to be thinking deeply, before finally throwing his arms up in defeat.

"Alright. Fine. But the moment you screw up, you go and sit in the car, we can't afford a causality. We leave in thirty minutes, go get what you need."

"Thank you!" With that, Ben rushed upstairs.

"Are you serious!?" Atticus seethed out as he glared at Damian, he noted the other angry looks he was getting from everyone right now. Sighing out, Damian only slapped his hands to his sides in an irritated matter before rubbing his forehead.

"Are you trying to get him killed?!" Barnabas snapped.

Damian then just smirked and put his fist under his chin in a cocky way as he looked at everyone.

"Calm down. I know what I'm doing. I got the building layout, the only way to get inside is to scale to the second floor. There's no way he'll be willing to do that." Damian chuckled softly.

"Couldn't just tell him that and save him the humiliation?" Atticus asked and Damian just shrugged,

"Nope. That's not really my style."

Guinevere then spoke up, her eyes narrowed,

"Hey, not to change the subject, but, where's Jackson?"

Everyone quickly looked around for the small three-year-old,

"I got the bathroom!" Atticus offered as he turned and walked towards the restroom,

"I got my room!" Guinevere responded, the others yelled out as well, but Atticus didn't pay much attention as he found Jackson playing with Damian's backpack that was simply chilling outside of the bathroom door. It wasn't the one with all the medical supplies he stole, no, this one was his real backpack.

"Ah, no you don't." Atticus chuckled as he leaned down and picked up Jackson, placing the boy on his hip. Atticus looked down at the bag, the pocket in the middle of it was wide open and a glimmer of white caught his eye. Looking behind him, he made sure he was alone before leaning down and opening the pocket. Grabbing what caught his eye, he felt his eyes narrow.

"Oh...I knew it.."

"There you are," Vita spoke up as she grabbed her toddler, who was running straight for her.

Damian smiled softly, however, the moment he saw Atticus out of the corner of his eye, he knew something wasn't right. He almost turned, but quickly had to step back as Atticus threw something at him. Just barely missing him, Damian heard the sound of multiple items hitting the floor. Looking towards what Atticus had thrown at him, Damian turned pale when he realized he was looking at all of his fake ID's

"I knew it! I KNEW WE SHOULDN'T TRUST YOU!" Atticus roared in anger.

"Whoa! Whoa! You see fake ID's and you think I'm the bad guy here? Kinda hypocritical, don't you think?"

Ben came downstairs in a heartbeat.

"What's going on?" He asked the two as he leaned against the railing to the stairs, cradling his injured arm.

"Bryan Ritter, Jacob Benshoff, Jose Rivera! Those are just a few names I found in that mountain of ID's you have. You change your name whenever you get bored with your recent identity. To me, that's way too suspicious."

Ben was quick to actually go past Damian and bend down to collect the ids.

"Ben-"

"How many of these...You told me your real name was Damian!" Ben yelled at him, clearly hurt by the discovery.

"It is!"

"It's not," Atticus spoke once more, he then flashed two ids between his fingers.

"The Damian one is fake. Here's his real name."

Damian was quick to try and snatch both ID's away from Atticus but he was stopped the moment Atticus put a hand on his throat.

"Josh. His real name is Joshua Newlands." Atticus spat out as he then tossed the card to Ben, who caught it with his good hand.

"How do you know that's not a fake?" Damian fought as he struggled out of Atticus's grasp.

"You said it yourself. I'm a hypocrite. I do this stuff too. I make ids for myself. But here's the difference, I do it when I HAVE to, you? You clearly don't."

"Look!" Damian finally yelled, his face visibly furious now. "We can sit here and argue about my stupid name, or we can save YOUR dragon! It's your choice!"

"...He's right. We still have a dragon to save." Ben muttered softly.

Atticus crossed his arms and sighed out softly in defeat.

"Right. Lead the way, Josh."

"Anybody calls me Josh again, I swear to Christ I'll break their fingers. Give me those." Damian snapped snatching the ID's out of Ben's hand.

In a huff, Damian turned and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him as he did so.

"Wow...I don't think I've ever seen him that mad." Ben blinked slightly. Atticus crossed his arms and shifted his weight onto his left side as he stared at the door.

"He's hiding something. It's the only reason he's so angry about me finding that. Look, I really don't want you coming with us." Atticus spoke to Ben, who shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I'm coming."

"Ben, Josh told me-"

There was a loud blaring noise from outside as Damian was now angrily honking the horn, and not laying off of it.

"Come on, let's not piss him off anymore, and please, don't call him Josh. Respect that, I did with you, Orrick." Ben winked as he started towards the car.

"Wait, wait...Here." Atticus took off his jacket and cradled Ben's arm in it for a moment before using the sleeves to tie around Ben's neck to make a sling.

"Why is it whenever we meet again, there's something wrong with my arm?" Ben laughed softly and Atticus opened his mouth to retort but Damian started rhythmically honking his horn.

"WE'RE COMING!" Atticus roared out suddenly and Ben chuckled in response.

"I don't think he can hear you."

"I'm going to tell him! Damn jackass!" Atticus seethed as he stormed outside to give Damian a piece of his mind.

"Don't go!" Guinevere finally cried out once Ben was alone.

"Guin-"

"NO!" She yelled out tears spilling down her cheeks as she sobbed softly. "You're injured! Please don't go! I don't want them to come back saying you've been killed! Don't go!"

"Guinevere. I'm not dumb, I know I'm injured and I know the risk is great, but understand something-"

"WHAT!? WHAT SHOULD I UNDERSTAND RIGHT NOW!?" She screamed out as she still continued to cry.

"That Atticus needs me right now. Guin, what friend would I be if I left him to do this alone with Damian? One of them is going to wind up dead. Money's on Damian if I'm being honest." Ben then went quiet and placed his hand on her shoulder, "Atticus does everything he can for me. It's only fair that I am with him now...Besides-"

Damian started laying on the horn once more and it was Ben's turn to yell out,

"I'M COMING! KEEP YOUR DAMN PANTS ON!"

"Yeah, I-I don't think he heard you." Guinevere.

"I better go, he'll leave without me. Don't worry, I'm coming back." Ben told them gently, backing away he quickly grabbed his bag by the door and rushed out the door. Running over to Damian's car, he hopped into the back seat next to Atticus. Being mindful of the wrappers on the floor of the car, Ben looked over at his friend with a smile.

"Not sitting up front?" Ben asked with a smile.

"If I sit next to him, I'll probably wind up mauling him," Atticus told him simply. Atticus then sneered as he kicked the mountain of wrappers by his feet. Damian rolled his eyes as he backed his car out, thankfully, Oliver had already moved his car from behind Damian so he was able to leave freely.

Everyone sat in awkward silence for a while, Ben only occasionally letting out a few gasps of pain as his arm continued to sting and burn dully. Atticus gave him a few looks of concern but said nothing, Damian looked at Ben through the rearview mirror but said nothing.

"So..I accidently left Twigleg at home." Ben finally said to no one.

"That's fine, honestly, if he were with us he'd just yell the whole time, and..." Damian paused and turned the review mirror to look at Atticus, who sneered at him in response, "I feel like there's going to be enough of that now." Atticus rolled his eyes and gave Damian the finger before turning away bitterly.

"Ok. I'm stepping in." Ben finally sighed out, sucking in a deep breath he proceeded to hit Atticus upside the head before doing to same to Damian, causing both of them to curse at him and yelp in surprise.

"Dammit! What was that for?!" Damian demanded as he continued to drive along the road.

"Ben! What the hell!?" Atticus snapped at his friend.

"You two need to knock this off. Atticus, you are eight hundred years old, act like it! I know Damian may be shady at times but dammit if he isn't looking out for you here. He's taking you to make sure your dragon makes it. He could have just ignored the message and let Kuriana die. Damian, you need to stop antagonizing Atticus. Your attitude towards him is just making things even tenser than they are! Now both of you, behave!" Ben huffed out as he sat back down and cradled his injured arm once more.

Damian looked at Ben through the rearview mirror once more before focusing on the road.

It was like that for a while, nobody speaking or saying anything. Damian occasionally looking at his phone to make sure he was going the right way. Atticus looking almost nervous, which was rather odd for Ben to see. Atticus always seemed cool and confident even when he was posing a stoner he had this confidence about him that he always carried around, but now...He seemed almost lost as he stared blankly out the window watching the world pass him by. Of course, after a minute or two, Atticus noticed that Ben's reflection staring at him and he just smiled slightly at before going back to look out the window. After a while, Damian drove off the road and into the woods causing everyone to tense up as he finally put the car in park.

"Where are we?"

"According to my phone, the university that has Kuriana should be just a mile up ahead."

"A mile?! You couldn't have parked closer?" Atticus asked and Ben just patted his friend's shoulder.

"A mile is the safest distance. Most people don't know you're out here until it's too late." Ben explained as he got out of the car, the cold air hitting his face, causing him to sniffle slightly. Rubbing his nose, he gave Damian a smile and Damian just looked on his phone, as he got out as well, putting the keys in his back pocket.

"Ok, good news is that there's a way in, bad news, we have to scale the building to get to the only opening." Damian spoke without looking up and Ben let out a bitter tsk,

"Of course."

"So, it's probably best if you stay-"

"No, don't even try that with me. I'll find another way in if I have to. You aren't sticking me in this car, you got me?" Ben snarled as he jabbed a finger in Damian's direction causing Damian to throw his hands up slightly.

"I'm thinking about your safety here."

"I can handle myself. Atticus, back me up." Ben brought his friend in as Atticus pulled his backpack out of the backseat of the car. The man then came up and lightly rasped his nails against the hood of the car slightly as he stared at Ben.

"Ben, I'm not saying you can't handle yourself, but...You have to see it from our viewpoint here. You're currently crippled and in pain and bleeding, I can smell it, but, I digress...Ben, I understand why you came, I do, but please...Stay in the car." Atticus gestured to the car and Ben only sighed out and allowed his shoulders to slump in defeat.

"Fine." He muttered as he sat in the front seat.

"Huh...I figured you...You know, put up much more of a fight?" Damian muttered as he looked at Ben through the window, Ben just looked at him and smirked slightly.

"What Atticus says, goes. I'm not gonna fight with him." Ben told him simply that smirk never leaving his face as Damian only raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, Alright..."

"Wait." Ben finally said as he stood up and with no warning he hugged Damian, causing the other to suddenly tense up at the hug. "Just bring him back safe." Ben ordered softly as he sat back down in the front seat. Damian nodded a bit before ushering Atticus away, Atticus giving Ben a slightly confused look before walking along with Damian. Ben waited till they were out of sight before he simply brought his right hand up, Damian's key ring on his index finger. He lightly twirled them around his finger hearing the keys jingle slightly he smirked once more before grabbing the last key on the ring.

"Alright 'Damian' Let's see who you really are." Ben muttered as he stuck the key into the locked glove box and turned it hearing a click, Ben only smirked and clicked his tongue triumphantly, "I still got it."

Damian and Atticus walked through the woods, their footsteps the only sound between the two of them as they heard the leaves crunch loudly under them.

Damian suddenly stopped and patted his back pocket.

" 'Sup?" Atticus asked as he stopped.

"Where are my keys?" Damian asked sounding slightly panicked as he frantically patted all of his pockets.

"Maybe you left them by the car? C'mon lets keep going."

"I remember putting them in my pocket...Dammit Ben!" Damian snarled out as he slightly turned back to where they started.

"Ok one, you fell for the oldest trick in the book. Two, never trust a pickpocket, three, what's the big deal? He's not going to leave us, he probably wanted the key's for heat. It's cold."

"Yeah, but if we run out of gas-"

"We'll be fine. Let's just keep going."

Damian frowned before sighing out and walking forward with Atticus. After a few moments of silence, Damian just shook his head and threw his arms up angrily,

"I can't believe he did that! Pickpocketing me! Bah!"

"I said it once, I'll say it again. Never trust a pickpocket, also, you pissed him off it was clear."

"Oh and you didn't?"

"He's mad at me, but you purposely embarrassed him."

For a few heartbeats, there was nothing between the two of them before Atticus finally spoke up.

"So, I noticed all of those wrappers in your car."

"Yeah? What of it?" Damian questioned slightly as he raised an eyebrow at Atticus.

"Just...How are you not fat?"

"Ok, one, Rude. Two, those are from months ago...Which honestly doesn't help anything. Look, I'm a slob, I'm not going to sugarcoat it."

"You really are an American." Atticus smirked as he laughed softly.

"Rude again." Damian chuckled along with Atticus as he stepped over a fallen log. Holding on to his backpack strap, Damian smiled as he walked with Atticus for a moment feeling like maybe him and the deranged vampire could possibly be friends. After a bit of walking for what felt like too long, Damian pulled Atticus to the side behind a tree as he spotted the building just off in the distance.

"That's it..." Damian muttered and Atticus rolled his eyes,

"Really? The only gigantic building that can be seen for miles is our destination? I never would have guessed." He quipped back at Damian who just glared at him before shaking his head slightly with a tsk.

"C'mon lets get closer..."

With that, the two of them quieted down their steps as they walked along now tip-toeing their best in the forest. Damian then suddenly grabbed Atticus's arm and broke out into a full on run.

"This is the opposite of quiet." Atticus pointed out as they rushed towards the back of the building their feet crunching the dead leaves more and loudly.

"Behind that tree, hurry." Damian urged him towards the giant tree around the back of the building. Atticus almost slipped and fell as they both hid behind it catching their breath. Damian put a hand on his chest, Atticus only stood there, lips pursed to the side.

"What the he-" Before he could finish his question, Damian cut him off and cupped his hand around Atticus's mouth.

"Shhh...You hear it?"

After a few moments of a silence, Atticus could hear it, people talking.

"...A beauty! I tell you! Only god knows how old that beast really is!"

"Shame, I'm only a secretary. I'd love to see it..."

Peeking from behind the tree, the two of them saw a man and a woman walking along the building, the male clearly a scientist, dressed in black slacks and a blue collar shirt with a white lab coat on. There was a still-burning cigarette in his hand. While the female was dressed in a pencil skirt and crisp white shirt her hair up in a high bun.

"I'm sure James would allow you to see it any day now." The male comforted her.

Damian clamped harder on Atticus's mouth, causing some discomfort to Atticus as he heard Damian growl bitterly.

"Lets hope you don't lose this dragon like you did with the black dragon." The female muttered softly.

"Nonsense, that Dragon couldn't fly we found that one in a heartbeat. I still want to know how it got out.."

"I thought it burnt it's way out."

"...No...The glass holding it was fireproof and completely intact...But the wall was burnt and there was blood on the floor. James said he got a DNA sample from it. It's only a matter of time till whoever freed gets what coming to them."

With that the male snubbed his cigarette out and walked inside with the woman, both of them using Keycards to get in through the back door.

"Shit!" Damian snarled out the moment the door shut. Letting go of Atticus's mouth Damian through his hands up in rage. "There was blood on the floor! I FORGOT HE WAS BLEEDING!" Damian roared.

"Keep your voice down! It'll be-"

"It won't be fine! They're hunting him down because of me! If I would have just seen that dragon was going to attack none of this would have happened!" Damian let out a string of colorful curses before punching the tree in anger. Atticus saw him instantly regret his discussion as Damian eyes suddenly went wide and he sucked in a deep breath.

"...Fuck...That...That really hurt..." Damian grumbled out as he rubbed his now sore knuckles.

"Good job. Now are we breaking in there or are you going to break your other hand?"

"Right..." Damian looked around making sure it was clear before taking off his backpack. "Let's get this done with.."

* * *

Ben puffed out his cheeks as he pushed the glove compartment back up. Sighing out slightly he leaned back into his seat and twirled the keys around his finger. He really wished he had Twigleg with him right now.

Hearing a noise, he perked up slightly and stopped twirling the keys. Listening more intently he heard the noise again, it was soft crunching like someone was on their way over to him from outside. Damian must have found out he had his keys. Looking for the source of the noise, he got out of the car and looked around outside the noise abruptly stopped and Ben bit his lip as he clutched the keys tighter. Without moving, he darted his eyes towards the trunk of the car. He knew Damian liked to hide weapons back there, the question was did Damian take all of them?

Holding his injured arm slightly, Ben bit his lip as a twig snapped in the distance. Breathing heavily, he could feel his heart beat rapidly in his chest as the crunching suddenly continued at a faster rate. Throwing all caution to the wind, Ben bolted for the trunk. Fumbling with the keys in his hands, he tried the first one, no go it was the car key. In his panic he didn't think as he tried the second key. It was the key to the glove compartment. Finally he found the right one, seeing how it was last on the list. Popping the trunk he opened just as someone grabbed his shoulders. Panicking even more now, before the person could pull him back, Ben grabbed something from the trunk. It was long and slender and felt like it was made of steel. Without thinking he turned and swung with all of his might.

There was a loud 'thunk' as his weapon hit his attacker in the head. Ben watched as a bald adult man fell down to the ground, he was wearing what looked like a security uniform from the university. The man was out cold a bruise on his temple from where Ben had hit him. Leaning down, Ben took, what looked like, a card key off of the guy and looked around frantically.

Looking at the weapon he saw it was just a wrench. Breathing out heavily. Ben looked around even more frantically as more crunching sounds came his way. Shutting the trunk. He realized something horrible.

This was a trap.

Rushing forward, he shut the front door and pocketed the keys. He needed to warn Damian and Atticus.

Running off towards the forest, Ben only hoped he wasn't too late.

* * *

Damian grunted as he used his upper body strength to hold onto the windowsill his feet dangling above two stories of nothingness.

"Hurry up! My arms can't hold me up forever!" Damian growled as he waited for Atticus who had just now gotten into the window. Atticus was almost like one of those Assassins Creed protagonists getting to the window. Damian tried to give him a rope but he refused and suddenly scaled the building like a professional mountain climber. Damian followed along and now he was dangling horribly in the air honestly a little scared.

"God, you're weak." Atticus commented as he grabbed onto Damian's hands and pulled him up to the window.

"Sorry, I didn't train for over a century like you." Damian huffed out as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. He then leaned down and put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his fleeting breath.

"It's all those snacks you eat." Atticus commented with a shrug.

"Oh, bite me. So I like trans fat."

"I would bite you, But I'm sure I'll get diabetes. Now hush." Atticus peeked out the door. Atticus heard the soft sound of a wrapper unwrapping and he turned to Damian. Damian had a Twinkie in his hands he had the wrapper halfway open before he paused and looked up at Atticus.

"..."

"Damian, where the hell did you get the Twinkie?!" Atticus half whispered to Damian.

Damian opened the wrapper fully and ate half the Twinkie in one bite.

"I remember I had it," Damian answered with his mouth full. Atticus groaned out with an eye roll before going back to look out the door.

"It's clear. Let's go." With that, Atticus grabbed Damian's wrist and pulled the other male along with him.

"Mmmm hey!" Damian yelped out as he stuffed the rest of the treat into his mouth before dumping the wrapper on the ground and rushing along with Atticus, together the two of the pressed themselves up against a nearby wall and Damian got to swallow his food before breathing out heavily.

"Where do we go from here?" Atticus asked and Damian took out his phone quickly, Atticus watched as he scrolled through his phone for a good minute and a half before nodding to himself.

"There's a flight of stairs...So...in order to get to Kuriana, we go...Down the stairs, turn right, then left, then go straight, then down again-"

"Just tell me along the way, alright-"

"Atticus...I have to tell you now."

"What?"

"...In case something happens, bro, I have to tell you, I do it all the time with Ben."

Atticus rolled his eyes once more and just shook his head.

"Fine. Down, right, left, and down again. What else."

"...It's actually Down, right, left, straight, then down. But after that, it's just going right and you should be there."

"Anything else?"

"Nope."

"You sure."

"Yep."

Atticus rolled his eyes for the third time in less than ten minutes and just shook his head. Unaware of the frown on Damian's face as Damian silently wrung his shirt in his hands. With a heavy sigh he looked down at his phone as Atticus scanned the area some more, Info-guy had texted him only moments before with only three words that made Damian's blood turn cold,

 **He is here.**

"Let's go."

Putting his phone in his pocket, Damian hurried behind Atticus as the two of them kept close to the shadows. Getting to the first flight of stairs without a hitch, they did their best to stay quiet as they rushed down. They instantly turned right, and then went left, only for Atticus to suddenly stop in the middle of the hallway.

"This isn't right...There are no people here...I haven't seen one person...This is a university right?" Atticus asked as he raised his arms a bit. When Damian didn't answer right away, Atticus turned to the first door and opened it, when he did so he looked in and saw it was empty completely empty.

"HELLO?!" Atticus screamed out, nothing but his own voice echoed around. Instantly he turned to Damian. "This isn't right...Even you have to know-"

Damian rushed forward and grabbed Atticus by the mouth once more silencing him.

"I know I heard something..." A voice spoke to people, a lot of them by the sound of it, started to go down the hallway, Damian felt his heart speed up as he gritted his teeth. He knew that voice all too well.

"Go." With that, he pushed Atticus.

"Get Kuriana and get the fuck outta here. Before they come. Hurry."

"Damian."

"AHHHHHHHHHHH." With a loud scream, Damian gave his position away, forcing Atticus to take off towards where Kuriana was. Shutting his eyes, Damian held his hand to his chest softly as he heard the voice speak to him directly,

"Always playing the hero, I see."

* * *

Ben knew something wasn't right when he just waltzed into the main office with the keycard in his hand. There was nobody around causing his eyes to narrow. Walking forward, the only sound he heard was his own feet against the carpeted ground. Feeling every hair on his neck stand up, Ben shuffled towards the elevator feeling more like a scared house cat than a confident dragon saver.

Getting closer to the elevator, Ben got the key card ready.

He then practically jumped out of his skin when a phone, somewhere, started to ring loudly breaking the silence. Putting a hand on his heart, he only stood there and just shook his head. Keeping the elevator in site, he hurried a bit more towards it. That was when suddenly the phone stopped ringing and then rang out again, narrowing his eyes, Ben turned.

Looking for the phone, he walked around looking for it. He found the culprit at the desk. He only let it go and stood there, waiting with his eyes still narrowed. Like last time, it went quiet for a few heartbeats then it started up again. Shakily, and probably stupidly, he picked it up off of the receiver and put the phone to his ear,

"Hello?"

* * *

Atticus darted down the hallway as fast as he could, if his heart was still beating it probably would have been beating so fast. Breathing he paused slightly as he went down the stairs for hopefully the final time. Practically jumping passed the first four steps, Atticus landed on the fifth step and jogged on from there, he only paused when he reached the bottom to catch his breath.

As much as he distrusted Damian, he did hope that the guy was okay.

Catching his breath, Atticus turned right only to suddenly collide with someone else, without thinking, he threw the other person to the ground with little effort.

"OW! JESUS!"

Atticus instantly regretted it as he looked down at Ben.

Ben was on his knees hissing out in pain as he cradled his injured arm close, it was apparent that Atticus had thrown him on top of his injury which didn't help things a bit.

"Sorry...How did you get here?"

"Long story," Ben answered between a hiss of pain. Ben got to his feet and cringed as he held his arm close. "This way." Ben breathed out painfully as he then rushed forward, Atticus decided to not question his friend at the moment as he followed along with Ben. Together they got to an intersecting four-way hallway. Before either of them could turn left there was a loud sound of running feet and Damian suddenly came skidding to a halt in front of them from the left.

He looked disheveled as he nervously ran his hands through his wild blue hair, his clothes were sloppy, well, sloppier than before, like he was in a rush to put them on, his coat lopsided actually showing his undershirt which was a stained white buttoned up shirt that was buttoned off, every single button was in the wrong hole. Damian was breathing heavily before he smiled at them.

"I...I out ran those..." He couldn't even finish his sentence as he laughed softly still trying to catch his breath.

Atticus looked over at Ben, his friend seemed to be examining every inch of Damian like it was the first time he was looking at him.

"This way." Ben finally spoke rather disdainfully before turning down the right hallway. Atticus and Damian followed him together they stopped in front of a door, a large door.

Ben walked up to it and presented the card key, the door beeped and opened allowing them to go in.

The first thing Atticus smelled was blood. It wasn't human blood. Instantly he sprinted towards the smell, causing Ben and Damian to do the same thing.

After centuries of not seeing the dragon that cared for him as much as Zenith did, the site that Atticus was greeted with was not the one he ever wanted.

Kuriana was on her side, strapped down by some sort of metal contraption. Her beautiful purple wings both twisted rendering her immobile as they were clearly purposely broken. Her mighty paws declawed like she was a cat and still freshly bleeding from her wounds, but that wasn't the worse of it. No. Her stomach...They cut her stomach open probably to look at her internal organs. However, Atticus noticed the most sickening thing.

She was still alive.

Rushing towards her mouth he stopped and collapsed to his knees, Kuriana looked at him, her eyes fogged over.

"...The...Vampire...Returns..." She breathed out. Instantly he touched her snout.

"Don't talk, we're going to get you out of here..." He breathed out as he turned to look at Ben and Damian. Damian was at a computer typing in something, hopefully, the code to release her. Ben, however, walked up to him and gently placed a hand on Atticus's shoulder.

"Ah...You're quest...Completed..." She heaved as she turned to look at Ben. "...Orrick...You must leave..." She whispered out.

"Not without you!" Atticus yelled out almost instantly, tears forming in his eyes.

"...I have lived...For...Too long...At...Least I get to see you...Before I die..."

"DON'T TALK LIKE THAT! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE!" Atticus screamed out as he sobbed out, he sounded more like his fourteen-year-old self than now. Tears now cascading down his face, he couldn't contain his sobs, his body shook horribly. He felt Ben's hand remove from his shoulder, he couldn't even look at his friend now as he cried.

"Please don't go. You can't..." He sniffled.

"Come closer..." Kuriana beckoned him. Crawling onto his knees closer to her, he rested his head on her cheek as she leaned her mouth towards his ear.

"Listen...To...My...Final...Words...Don't trust...The blue haired one...He is not what he seems..." She whispered ever so softly to him she then let out a low breath. "Zenith...Would be proud of the man you...have...become..." She said out loud. Atticus looked into her eyes and watched as she slowly closed them and her whole body went limp.

"KURIANA!?" He yelled out as he shook her head.

"Atticus-" Ben tried to reach out to touch him, but for the very first time, Atticus slapped Ben's hand away.

"NO! NO! SHE CAN'T BE GONE! I CAN'T LOSE...I CAN'T LOSE HER TOO!" He screamed out finally looking at Ben, he could see that Ben was crying as well, clearly not as hard as Atticus was, but the tears were still there. Turning away from Ben, Atticus buried his face into Kuriana's cold scales as he sobbed onto her.

"She can't be...She just can't be...It's..." He sniffled as he then used most of his strength to punch the floor below him. "IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR! WHY AM I THE ONE WHO HAS TO LOSE EVERYHTING!? WHY! I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS GOD DAMN LIFE!"

"Atticus...That's not true..." Gently Ben got to his knees, like before, he went to touch him, but Atticus scooted away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Atticus demanded with a hiss. "YOU DON'T KNOW HALF THE SHIT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! SO DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME ANYTHING RIGHT NOW! YOU STILL HAVE YOUR DRAGON! YOU'RE BEST FRIEND AND COMPANION ARE STILL ALIVE! AND SO IS YOUR FATHER! YOUR ACTUAL FATHER AND YOU JUST THREW THAT ALL AWAY! SO YOU DON'T GET TO SAY SHIT RIGHT NOW!"

He didn't really mean to be so cruel to Ben, honestly, the words came out before he could even think about what he was saying, but he didn't care, that didn't matter to him. Ben backed up his face unnaturally scared as he shuffled away.

"I'm sorry...But we have to leave." Ben sniffled softly.

"I'm not leaving her." Atticus put firmly.

"Atticus-"

"I'M NOT LEAVING HER!" He snarled out firmly as he buried his face into her scales once more. "If they kill me with her then so be it!"

"Then...I'm sorry that I have to do this."

Atticus saw Ben's hand move towards his neck and instantly he grabbed it and managed to stand up as he fought with Ben. He saw the syringe in Ben's hand and instantly felt betrayal and rage fuel his whole body.

For once in his lifetime,

Atticus saw bright red.

"You were going to drug me!?"

Before Atticus could stop himself, he threw Ben to the ground with very little effort, causing Ben to land on his bad arm once more.

"Atti-"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!?"

"I am." Ben breathed out, tears in those damned eyes of his. "We have to go, Atti, I'm not leaving you behind."

"IF IT WAS FIREDRAKE THIS WOULD BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!" Atticus suddenly grabbed Ben by both of his arms, causing Ben to cry out loudly as Atticus clutched tightly to Ben's bad arm. "I NEEDED YOU AND YOU GO AND TRY TO DRUG ME! I'VE ALWAYS BEEN THERE FOR YOU!" Atticus snarled as he shook Ben back and forth. His rage getting the best of him, it didn't subside until he heard Ben cry and sob out one simple phrase that put Atticus in check.

"Please, I'm sorry...Orrick, you're hurting me..."

The strong smell of blood hit him once more and he looked down at Ben's arm, Atticus had somehow tore through his makeshift sling for Ben and clutched Ben's arm so tightly that Ben's wound reopened and started to bleed through the bandage and onto Atticus's own hand. Looking down at his blood-smeared hand shakily, Atticus realized just what he had down and let go of Ben and slowly backed away.

"I...I...Oh god..." Looking down at his hands Atticus shut his eyes tightly and clenched his fist.

"...Let's go...Let's just...Go.." He muttered.

It almost seemed like Damian materialized next to him, the man being silent through the whole ordeal.

"Don't. Say. A. Word." Atticus growled to Damian as he looked away from Ben, not wanting to look his friend in the face after what just happened.

"I won't. I just wished I had some popcorn, that was quite a show." With that, Damian almost happily danced forward.

* * *

If the first car ride was awkward, then this one was beyond awkward. Damian was driving while Ben sat curled up in the front seat looking like he was asleep, Atticus sat in the back looking at his bloodied hand still. The blood was dried and encrusted at this point, but still, it was there.

How could he lose control like that? He caused physical harm to Ben, a person he sworn to protect. Not only that but the things he shouted at his friend...Oh god. Ben probably hated him now and never want to talk to him again.

There was a moment of silence as Ben suddenly shifted up, out of his hiding positon and yawned out loudly.

"Damian. I think we should stop for the night. There's a motel up the road." Ben spoke softly, a little too softly.

"...The Greenbloom's home is a little under forty-five minutes." Damian spoke coldly.

"I know. But. you've always said it's best if we avoid them, especially after what just happened back there. We could get caught. You know that. Let's just stop for the night. Besides..." Ben paused and his tone suddenly changed to be more accusatory than anything. "I know you must be exhausted."

There was a moment of silence before Damian finally nodded,

"Yeah, alright."

And just like that, Damian turned into the nearest motel. Together the three of them walked into main office and Damian instantly started doing all the talking.

"We need a room for the three-"

"Two," Ben spoke plainly.

"Eh?"

"I really don't want to be in a room with him right now," Ben said bitterly pointing his thumb at Atticus, who just looked down shamefully at Ben's voice towards him. Fighting back tears, Atticus shut his eyes.

"Good point. Two rooms, one for us and one for him."

Damian paid for the rooms and they got their keys. Atticus wasted no time locking himself away in his motel room. Sitting on his bed he stared up at his ceiling.

Three of his most trusted friends, he lost.

Zenith, Kuriana, and Ben.

All caused by him in some way.

He killed Zenith.

He wasn't fast enough for Kuriana.

and He betrayed and harmed Ben.

Balling up his hands Atticus let out an unholy scream as all his rage build up inside of him. Grabbing the nearest object, which was a lamp, he flung it at the wall, not even bothering to unplug it. The lamp hit the wall hard enough for him to dent the wall, but that wasn't enough for him right now. Being so engulfed in rage and grief he got to work on redecorating the whole room.


	6. Chapter 6

Atticus had completely demolished the room he was staying in, looking around at his mess he could only shake his head numbly, the walls all had at least several new holes in them, his knuckles were bruised and bloody from doing that but he didn't care. The bed completely overturned with the blankets and pillows tossed into the bathroom along with the poor nightstand. The TV on the floor glass smashed all over the floor from where it had shattered on impact. Bringing his hands to his head, he only pulled at his hair. His hair no longer in a ponytail, instead it was out on his shoulders as he continued to yank and pull harshly at his own hair.

He probably would have just continued to stand there in his own self-pity if it wasn't for his phone going off in his pocket. Swallowing hard, he took it out and looked at the ID. It was his children... With a shaky breath, he answered it in a fake cheery voice that in all honesty just made him sick.

"Hey, Sweetheart."

He listened to Sofi practically whine on the other side of the phone, clearly missing him, he could hear Jason and Lucy in the background clearly having some sort of conflict with one another, he ignored that as he listened to Sofi.

"Miss Daddy! Miss Daddy!" Sofi cried loudly, he could hear her sniffling on the other side and Atticus sighed out.

"Sweetie, I miss you too." Atticus comforted her leaning against the wall, phone cradled between his neck and cheek as he rubbed his bleeding knuckles.

"Hey, Dadicus! When are you coming back?!" Lucy demanded over the phone her voice cracking halfway through her sentence, Atticus sighed softly,

"I don't know, Kiddo, a lot of stuff happened today...Probably in a few days..." He told her softly, he could feel her frown over the phone.

"...Just come home soon...We all miss you, Ms. Cathy is nice, but she's not you." Lucy mumbled softly and just like that the line went dead and Atticus put hands to his face before slowly sliding down the wall. Sobbing softly he just shook his head as he whimpered against his palms. Feeling his face scrunch up, he couldn't stop the sob that left his mouth loudly, muffled by his hands.

"Get...CONTROL OF YOURSELF!" He yelled at himself as he suddenly slapped his own face. His face actually stung from his slap but he didn't care. With an angry growl and a shaky hand, he clenched his hands into fists tightly. Getting up from, he needed to go for a walk. Getting out of his room, he shut the door behind him, pocketing the door key as he did so. Almost instantly Damian's head poked his head out of his room, the two of them locked eyes for a moment, there was something different about Damian as he stared Atticus in the eyes.

Damian then leaned against the door frame and smirked oddly. One arm draped over his head in a cocky way as he put his other hand on his hip, almost like he trying to seduce Atticus. His bright blue hair covering his eyes slightly as he cheekily spoke a question,

"Going somewhere?"

"A walk, is that fine by you?" Atticus defensively asked, he then narrowed his eyes at Damian as Damian let out a low almost scary chuckle.

"You're an adult. I'm not going to tell you what to do. Just know we leave first thing in the morning." Damian responded slyly as he turned to go back into the room.

"Wait...How's Ben?" Atticus question and Damian didn't even turn around, he just chuckled lowly again.

"Fine. In the bathroom cleaning his arm. Hasn't spoken a word." Damian paused suddenly and Atticus could just see the smirk growing on his face as he spoke the next line, "I think you really scared him. Then again...You ARE a vampire. I'm sure you just made him realize the truth about your kind."

Atticus only stood there in shock as Damian shut the door in his face without another word.

"W-WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Atticus finally roared out he was got ready to kick the door in, ready to demand why Damian suddenly got so brave, just because he held back at the Greenblooms doesn't mean he'll hold back now, he wasn't in the mood for that. However, something stopped him as he stared furiously at the door in front of him, breathing heavily, Atticus gritted his teeth before just turning away from the door. Clenching his fists at his side, he just went down the stairs towards the lobby.

Sitting behind the desk was a dark skinned woman with long black hair tied up into a ponytail. The woman smiled at Atticus as he came down the steps. Walking up to her, he leaned against the counter and let out a low sigh as he hung his head.

"Any taverns around here?" He asked with a headshake, he needed alcohol today was one hell of a day and he just wanted to forget it. The woman only raised and eyebrow at him and chuckled sweetly,

"Well, I don't know about taverns, sweetheart, but here, in the twenty-first century, we have Pubs." She responded, her smile never leaving her mouth as she leaned against the desk.

"Yes, of course, where's the nearest pub, sweetie?"

"There's one just down the road. Go straight, you can't miss it." She grinned at him, her eyes oddly hard as she pulled back and walked away from him.

"Thank you."

Turning to the door, he left the motel silently. The door shut behind him as he walked down the sidewalk, she was right as he could see the pub just a thousand feet ahead from the motel. Feeling the cold night wind hit his face, he cringed a bit before adjusting his jacket so the collar covered the lower half of his face. Getting closer to the pub, Atticus could see people outside of the pub. They seemed to be having a smoke outside and chatting with one another. Walking up to them, they seemed to tone down their talking as they looked at him, there was one older woman, she couldn't be older than sixty as she stood there, cigarette in her hand, beside her, were two males, one around her age, and the other younger, no older than Ben it seemed. All of them had smokes as they stared at him like he was going to attack them. They all looked at each other in silence as Atticus paused and looked at the three people. Shuffling slightly, he pulled his jacket away from his mouth to speak,

"...Do any of you think I could borrow a smoke?"

There was a moment of silence before the younger one of the three pulled out his carton and handed him one.

"Thanks." Atticus smiled softly as he took it gently, the man then lit the cigarette now in Atticus's mouth. "Thanks again, mate." Atticus breathed out as he inhaled deeply. "Ohhh that feels good..." He breathed out just as deep almost like he was in ecstasy.

"Haven't had one in a while, eh?" The older male asked Atticus could hear a slight French accent in his voice. Looking at the man, he saw his hair was depleting and almost completely white. His nose was hooked and crooked, his eyes a rather pretty shade of green.

"...Had to quit. Got children to raise, but...Today was...Horrid." Atticus breathed out softly with a disapproving headshake, some more smoke leaving his mouth as he coughed slightly.

"Well, just be happy you weren't up at the university, heard they had a nasty break in earlier today, a guard had to go to the hospital because someone hit him over the head with some sort of weapon." The woman just shook her head as she puffed on her smoke and then looked at Atticus. Atticus gave nothing away, he didn't jump, he didn't widen his eyes, he just stood there and shook his head, bringing the cigarette to his mouth he just mumbled out in response,

"Pity."

* * *

Ben tossed the cell phone, he had stolen from Damian, up and down in his good palm. He looked over at the bathroom door, Damian was in there, door closed, he wasn't showering, that wasn't good. He'll be out any moment now probably wondering why Ben had his phone in the first place, however, Ben was waiting, waiting for a specific text message to pop up. He felt his heart pound in his chest as he waited. Breathing out heavily, he kept his eyes on the door, waiting for Damian to pop out.

Damian had told him that Atticus left for the night, and even given Ben a rather unsettling smile before vanishing into the bathroom. Ben had to find Atticus, and quick.

Feeling the phone vibrate, he looked at the text quickly,

 **Now.**

Getting up, Ben stayed silent as he slowly tipped toed towards the room door. His heart roared in his ears as his blood turned cold, slowly, ever so slowly, he got closer and closer towards the door, grabbing the knob, he slowly turned it and opened the door. Seeing the hallway, he held his breath and silently shut it behind him. The phone vibrated in his hand once more and he looked at the phone,

 **Hurry. Run.**

He did just that, rushing as fast as he could, he had the stairs in his sight. When he was halfway down the stairs he could hear a door slam shut in the distance and he jumped down the last three steps, careful of his arm as he stumbled a bit. Getting the first floor, he rushed past the desk, where nobody was at, thankfully. Pushing the door open, Ben did a hard right, the car was out of the picture right now. Now it was time to hide. Getting to the back of the motel Ben groaned out when he looked at the fence, if he had both of his arms, then it'd be fine, but with his injury, he couldn't climb up. Looking around frantically. He could only groan and run towards the side of the motel. He saw his break, a hole in the fence. The problem? The hole wasn't that wide and it was on the bottom.

The phone vibrated and Ben looked at the newest message,

 **Do it, or he'll catch you.**

"Dammit..." Ben groaned out softly. Getting onto his knees, he held his bad arm close as he slowly shimmied through the hole in the fence, His bad arm suddenly got scratched by a piece of metal sticking out. Gritting his teeth, he breathed heavily as he stifled his groan of intense pain. Slowly he continued to shimmy through the hole. He didn't realize until it was too late, that there was a ditch behind the fence. Once over half of him was through he went tumbling down the ditch. Unable to stop his cries this time, he rolled and tumbled down until he suddenly stopped in a puddle of water.

"...Ow..." Ben whimpered as he clutched his injured arm and held it close to his stomach. The phone vibrated next to him, looking at the phone, he could see the words,

 **Stay. Keep down.**

Shifting so he was down in the mud below, he saw flashlight's suddenly come around and he could see figures moving around the back of the motel.

"Beeeen!" Damian called out he didn't sound concerned in the slightest, more like he just wanted to find him. Shutting his eyes, Ben swallowed hard as he shifted so there was no more damage to his arm as it was.

"Benny! Come out!"

The flashlights slowly vanished and he silently moved around in the mud. Standing up he grabbed the phone and looked at it seeing a new message, he sighed,

 **Keep going.**

Ben clutched his arm and then slowly walked through the mud, he needed to find Atticus, and fast. Their lives literally depended on it.

* * *

"EY!" Atticus cheered with the rest of the bar patrons as he started to chug down his Guinness beer as fast as he could. Once he finished he slammed the cup down and cheer once more. Everyone cheer once more to him.

"Wow, fifth beer down. How are you still standing, Buddy?" The old man asked Atticus. Atticus chuckled as he wobbled a bit.

"I'll never tell~" Atticus spoke in a singsong voice.

"Give the guy another one, on me." The old woman told the bartender, who turned out to be the young man from the group, nodded and filled up Atticus's cup once more. Atticus, being slightly gone, grabbed the cup and spoke up,

"Thank ye, laddie!" Atticus smiled as he proceeded to chug once more.

"Whoa, impressive Irish accident you got there, mate. How long did it take you to practice that?" The bartender asked once Atticus finished. Slamming the cup down once more, Atticus wiped his mouth with his arm.

"Bah! I am Irish!" Atticus proudly stated as he grabbed the bowl of pretzels and started to shove them into his mouth at a fast rate. Consuming handful after handful of pretzels.

"Really?...But you sounded British."

"Long story, laddie," Atticus responded with a mouthful of pretzels. "Urg. I need better food than this. What do you have to eat?" Atticus asked and the man slightly jumped a bit.

"Errr. Well, we did have pretzels, but you just ate them all...So...Let's see we have some candy bars here for a pound and for eight pounds we have a small pizza I could microwave-"

"Yes! That! All of that! And another beer!" Atticus slammed his money down on the bar and man just took what he needed and got Atticus what he ordered. The man laid three candy bars in front of Atticus, a mars bar, a crunchie, and a double decker. Atticus instantly started to tear into the chocolate bar, almost eating the wrapper with it.

"Wow...You are hungry aren't you?" The older man questioned with a chuckle.

"Aye! Starving." Atticus quickly told him as he tossed the half chewed wrapper into the trash. Grabbing his beer, he started to down it at a fast rate, before the bartender put the pizza in front of him. It was really just a small pizza, just a personal pan cut into four tiny slices, and he did not hesitate to shove those slices into his mouth.

"I've never had pizza before. It's so good." He spoke as he quickly ate.

"You never had pizza?! You need to have a real slice of the pie, not just this stuff I cooked up in the microwave."

"Bah! It's still good!"

"How come you've never had pizza? You said you had children."

"...I can't remember why!" Atticus barked out laughing loudly.

"ORRICK!"

Atticus whipped his head to the door where Ben was. Ben stood there breathing heavily, covered head and toe in mud.

"Benny! My friend! Guys! That's Ben! Hey, Ben!" Atticus happily cheered as Ben angrily stormed up to Atticus still breathing heavily as he forced Atticus to look him in the eye.

"Oh my god...Don't tell me you're drunk."

"I'm not, laddie, yer drunk!" Atticus quickly accused and Ben facepalmed so loud Atticus could hear the slap.

"We have to go, mate!" Ben yelled out as Atticus continued to stuff his face with pizza. Groaning out, Ben grabbed Atticus by his arm and pulled as hard as he could with his one good hand, the others in the pub just stared at him as he did so. Atticus lost his balance and fell face first on the floor.

"We have to go, Orrick! Get up!" Ben yelled out in a panic he seemed oddly close to tears. Atticus still just laid there tears in his own as Ben urged him to get up frantically.

"I'm sorry..." Atticus slowly mustered out as he still sat there, his eyes turned to Ben's shoulder that was now caked in mud like the rest of him. "I'm so sorry."

"We can talk about this later! Atticus, Please. I need you right now."

"I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you, right now." Ben softly spoke as he hugged Atticus around his middle. Atticus blinked and gently patted Ben's head. "...Crap..." Ben suddenly spoke up as he pulled away from Atticus and looked at a phone in his hand.

"I'm not here!" Ben suddenly and quickly yelled out as he suddenly bolted towards the bar counter.

"Hey you can't-" The bartender started but Ben cut him off.

"I'm not here, please!" Atticus watched as Ben crouched behind the bar, now hidden from sight. Just then, the door opened once more, revealing Damian. Atticus only stood there, unsure of what to do as Damian approached him.

"Whew, you spell like the bar," Damian commented slyly.

"I...I..." Atticus couldn't think straight as he rubbed his temples, sitting back down, he gazed over the counter to see Ben huddled in the corner, hand clamped over his mouth, he looked scared of Damian. Odd, He never looked scared of Damian before.

"Hey. Where's Ben? He ran off." Damian demanded as he crossed his arms.

"Dunno." Atticus slurred slightly as he continued to sit there unmoving. His eyes focused on the other candy bars in front of him. "Are you nervous?" He questioned suddenly.

"Of course I am! I can't find him!"

"Mars bar?" He offered Damian, who just slapped it out of his hands. Atticus only looked down at the candy bar slightly then back at Damian.

"Ben."

Atticus just stared at the discarded Mars bar once more before narrowing his eyes slightly. Since when did Damian ever refuse food? Especially a treat like that?

"Hey! Drunken moron! Where is Ben?!" Damian demanded once more crossing his arm impatiently. Again, when did he get so brave?

Atticus looked at Damian, Damian more or less seemed to move from side to side, that might of just been his intoxication, though. Atticus shook his head before squeezing his eyes tightly.

"Useless! Alright!" With no warning, Damian grabbed a barstool and stood up on it, he then let out a loud whistle causing everyone else at the bar to look at him.

"I'm looking for a guy! He's no older than me! He has black curly hair, blue eyes, and pale skin! His shoulder is currently in a makeshift sling, he's my friend and he's injured! Has anybody seen him?!" Damian demanded loudly. There was a low murmur amongst the patrons. Damian looked amongst the crowd, even turning to the older lady and man.

'Don't turn around...' Atticus unconsciously though as he looked down at Ben who's eyes were now wide as Damian was so close to finding his not so good hiding spot.

Atticus brought the remainder of his beer up to his lips and drank the rest of it.

 _Ben's afraid of Damian._

 _Damian refused the candy bar._

 _"Don't trust the blue haired one...He's not what he seems..."_

 _"Ok...But here's all that lead up to me being attacked them, Ben, had already mentioned you, you tracked him down at school and told him about the quest you wanted him to go on. I suddenly come into the picture two days before you want to take him away and I get lead into a trap. This 'attacker' that isn't you mentions Ben as I'm on the verge of blacking out. This attacker looks like you and sounds like you, but it's not you, what? Do you have a twin?"_

Atticus heard his own voice echo in his head as he sat there silently looking at his empty beer.

 _"This attacker looks like you and sounds like you, but it's not you, what? Do you have a twin?"_

Looking up at Damian, he narrowed his eyes.

"NO ONE?! I KNOW SOMEONE MUST OF SAW HIM!"

 _"_ _Do you have a twin?"_

 _"A twin?"_

 _A TWIN!_

Everything slowly clicking at once in Atticus's mind, his eyes widened, Damian's hair always been a fizzy faded blue, his hair was now bright blue and straight. Atticus then suddenly brought his foot out and kicked the chair 'Damian' was standing on from under him, causing Damian to fall flat on his face on the hard floor below. With a loud grunt, Damian brought his head up, nose bleeding, lip busted. As he laid there in shock.

"YOU BASTARD!" Atticus suddenly roared as he stood up and gave the imposter a good kick in the ribs. Causing him to cry out. Picking him up by the back of his shirt, Atticus pinned him by the bar, one arm twisted behind his back, causing Damian to cry out once more.

"Where is he?! Where is the real Damian!?" Atticus drunkenly demanded as the patrons all backed away from him. Ben shakily stood and the imposter growled.

"I AM DAMIAN! YOU SOCIOPATH! SOMEBODY GET HIM OFF OF ME!"

Atticus grabbed Damian by his hair and smashed his face into the bar, causing Ben to back up in shock.

"Where is Damian!?" Atticus demanded once more. The imposter slowly spat out a string of blood from his mouth.

"I...Am-"

Again, a smash into the bar for the faker, this time twice in a row.

"Where?!"

There was a strangled cough from the other, as more blood and even a tooth left his mouth.

"I won't tell you a damn thing, you bloodsucker!"

 _"_ Atticus, that's enough..." Ben whispered out, but, being drunk and slightly vengeful, Atticus didn't listen as he suddenly took his knife out of his pocket and stabbed the bar next to the imposter's face.

"I'll get you to talk!"

"Somebody call the coppers!" Atticus heard the old woman, who was just chatting it up beside him, yell out frantically as she seemed to be in hysterics now whole bar seemed to be as everyone turned and ran out, even the bartender himself. The imposter just laughed loudly at Atticus as he yelled out,

"Do you worst! Show them! Show them the monster you truly are! You pretend to be civilized but you can only hold that façade for so long. You crave blood, that's all your kind do! Why do you think I never freed Kuriana, I wanted to see how much blood you truly could spill."

Atticus growled and raised his knife, ready to stab the imposter in the back of the neck, but Ben spoke up loudly,

"Atticus! Please-"

"SHUT UP!" Atticus roared at Ben who jumped at that and then he teared up.

"Please...Don't...You caught him..." He sniffled loudly. "You caught him." With a shaky hand, Ben grabbed Atticus's cold hand. "You're not a monster...Please don't do this..." Ben begged as he kept his grip on Atticus's hand. Atticus felt his face fall from its previous angry state. Ben shook horribly as he sobbed out.

"Don't kill him..."

"...I..." Atticus let go of the imposter and he fell to the ground with a loud 'thump' who slowly groaned as he clutched his face. Atticus looked down at the imposter and then crossed his arms.

"Alright, ye, bastard! stand up!" Atticus grabbed him and forced his back against the bar. Looking at his face, Atticus saw that he had broken his nose at least twice, his lips were puffed up and bleeding as well as his nose, his eyes both blacken and swollen. Without another word, Atticus fished through the imposter's pockets before finding what he wanted, car keys. With that, he pushed the other into the bar. "You're on your own. C'mon Ben."

Ben skittishly skirted around the bar as he stood a good foot away from Atticus.

"Atticus, you can't drive, you're drunk!"

"We'll be fine! Let's just go." Atticus insisted as he grabbed Ben by his good arm and started to lead his friend towards the door. Ben looked over his shoulder at the fake Damian, the man just on the floor by the bar. The two of them locked eyes, fake Damian just chuckled evilly causing Atticus and him to stop.

"What's so funny?!" Atticus demanded loudly and fake Damian just smiled, showing his bloody missing and chipped teeth.

"Go on...Leave...By I'm sure your dragon will love that."

"...My dragon is dead." Atticus seethed out. Fake Damian looked him in the eyes, his green eyes seem to bore into Atticus's own eyes before he tsked bitterly,

"Not yours...His..." His eyes then turned to Ben, who turned paler almost instantly.

"W-What?" Ben whispered in shocked.

"...Firedrake, right? That's his name...We already have him. Oh, and your family as well. You two go on, run back to the Greenblooms...You're just going to find an empty house. Thank goodness, Oliver was with them too, made the grab a little easier. They'll be dead by morning. You'll never find them...Not without me." The fake Damian chuckled again, blood pooling freely from his mouth as he did so, dripping down his shirt and onto the floor. Atticus licked his lips a bit before he backed away quickly. He was still drunk and the thought of having actual human blood made him even more starving than he was before.

"You bastard!" Ben yelled out as he was now ready to attack, but Atticus grabbed him.

"He's joking, he has to be!" Atticus urged Ben back with him.

"Look at that phone, see what 'info-guy' has to say. If you think I'm lying." Fake Damian chuckled weakly. Ben did just that, bringing the phone back he saw that he had several missed text messages from Info-guy, the one helping him all along.

Reading them in order he saw this,

 **Took him long enough.**

 **He has to stop.**

 **...**

 **I'm sorry.**

 **I was going to tell you once you were safe.**

 **I can lead you to them. Do not trust him.**

Ben let out a shaky breath before bringing the back of his hand up to his nose and sniffling out.

"...Why?" Was all Ben could ask. "...I understand if you wanted me! BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GET THEM INVOLVED!" He finally roared out in anger. Fake Damian rocked his head back in an eerie laugh as he shook his head.

"Oh, but we did. Especially the dragon. Firedrake is going to face the fate that Kuriana did, maybe even worse."

"Why!? What do you have to prove by harming him!?"

"That dragons not only exist, but we want to know every type of dragon there is! Their functions, organs, every possible thing you can dream of...It wasn't that hard getting Firedrake either, in case you were wondering...I'd be wary around Info-guy."

Instantly the phone started buzzing in Ben's hands.

 **It happened before I met Damian!**

 **I didn't know!**

 **...I'm sorry. I want to help. I really do...You can't trust him! You just can't!**

"You're at a crossroad, arentcha? So, Dragon rider...The choice is yours. Me or Him. Pick your poison wisely." Fake Damian spat out bitterly.

Ben looked at the phone then back to fake Damian, before narrowing his eyes.

"Let's go, Atti. I'll drive."

"Ye don't know how to drive."

"I'll learn. It's better than having you drive us into a tree. Oh." Ben then stormed up to fake Damian and punched him in the face, knocking him out instantly. "Lets get a move on shall we?"

Atticus looked back at the unconscious imposter, before turning back to Ben who now walked past him, snatching the keys out of Atticus's hands as he did so.

"You sure you made the right choice?" Atticus asked as Ben retreated towards the door.

"Positive. I trust Info-guy more than...Josh Newlands over there." Ben snarled out as he stormed out the door. Atticus just shrugged and followed Ben, Ben now how the phone to his ear.

"You owe me one hell of an explanation right now, you bastard!" Ben snarled out as he walked down the sidewalk.

" **I know.** " A monotone digital deep male voice spoke on the other line.

"I'm putting a lot of trust in you. If you screw me over. I'll hunt you down myself. Do you hear me? Why did you tell them how to find Firedrake? How do you even know of Firedrake!? HOW DID THEY FIND FIREDRAKE?! HE'S IN THE MOUNTAINS!" Ben yelled out at the phone.

" **...I can't reveal that yet. You'll lose all trust in me the moment I do. Just listen to me. I am on your side here. Completely. I can say, they found him because he wasn't in the mountains at the time. They found him at night flying around the mountain, probably to stretch his wings.** "

"How did they know it was him?"

" **Because I told them."**

"...Dammit...I hope I picked my right poison."

" **Benjamin. You didn't pick the poison. You picked an antidote. If I wasn't on your side. I wouldn't have warned you of Josh, I wouldn't have helped you escape. Please. Just think of that. Now, I can't stay on for long. They'll find me...I truly am sorry. For now, just get to the car, I'll keep you posted from there.** "

With that Info-guy hung up and Ben just stared blankly at the phone as Atticus drunkenly approached him.

"Just who are you?"

"I think I'm going to be sick..." Atticus mumbled as he held his stomach.

"This whole thing is giving me a headache-" Hearing Atticus lurch, Ben only sighed and shook his head as his friend proceeded to vomit up all of the food and beer he ingested on the sidewalk.

"Can't stomach real food, huh?"

"...Oh right...That's why I could never enjoy...Pizza..." Atticus mumbled as he suddenly put his hands on his knees and vomited once more. Ben sighed. There was no way in hell they were going to save everyone tonight. Not with Atticus like the way he was.

"Alright. C'mon lets just get to the car and get to a safer place for you to rest up." Ben urged as he grabbed Atticus's cold hand and lead him away. Atticus looked ahead at Ben as they walked back towards the motel parking lot. Atticus felt an odd warmth slowly overtake his normally cold body as they walked. Getting to the car, Ben unlocked it and in they went. Atticus was forced into the backseat by Ben who just sighed.

"If you vomit, stick your head out the window like a dog. Please." Was all Ben said as he put the keys in the car's ignition and turned, the car revved to life and he smiled. To himself, that wasn't so hard. He pushed on the gas and instantly the car revved in place and the tires squealed.

"Urg! Take the damn thing out of park!" Atticus cried out as he laid in the backseat holding his stomach.

"Oh, I knew that."

"No, you didn't."

Ben looked at the lever and pulled it down or he tried to but it didn't budge. He looked down at it, PRNDL he only stared at the stick like it was some strange alien object.

"Oh for the love of...Ben apply the break and pull the...the...PRNDL down!" Atticus frustratedly yelled at Ben who just jumped and did as he was told. Putting the stick in drive, he pushed the gas and instantly Atticus yelled.

"NO! REVERSE, BEN! NOT FORWARD!"

Feeling the tires hit the curb leading to the motel. Atticus instantly shot up. As Ben stomped on the break.

"That's it, you'll get us caught with your driving alone. Get to the passenger's side." Atticus demanded and Ben instantly smacked his friend away from him.

"I'm new at this and you're drunk! I cannot have you drive. Lay down and shut up!" Ben growled in response as he put the car in reverse. Slowly he backed off of the curb, cringing as the car bounced a bit downwards.

"Alright, now, just put it in drive and turn the wheel so you can drive out of the parking lot," Atticus instructed as he groaned out like he was going to vomit once more. Ben did as he was told and slowly pulled out of the parking lot the best he could. He did hit the curb out of the parking lot, but aside from that, they were now on the road.

"Alright...Where are we hiding?" Atticus questioned as he gagged but nothing came out.

"The woods. We get far enough away they won't find us there for the night...God, I hope we aren't too late." Ben mumbled the last part as he drive slowly through the deserted road. Atticus kept blacking in and out of reality, that made him a little happy that Ben was driving because he'd probably wind up killing him otherwise.

Atticus was pretty sure he blacked out for a good while because when he opened his eyes once more, they were no longer on the road but in the woods. Ben already had the car off and was now resting in the driver's seat, head against the window as he slept. Atticus slowly sat up and looked down at Ben as his friend slept peacefully. Atticus then slowly laid back down and rested his head on the seat below him. It smelt of cigarette smoke and old chocolate, not really a pleasant smell, but he'd take what he could get for now.

* * *

Damian could only stare at the corner of his room and mumble slightly to himself as he rocked numbly back and forth. Licking his dry mouth, Damian shut his eyes harshly and then quickly reopened like what he was seeing wasn't real, but it was.

Feeling the wall on his back, Damian jumped at the sound of the door opening, as if he was on fire, he got to his bare feet and charged at the person in his room. The chain tied to his jacket stopped him just a few feet before the door. Breathing out heavily, Damian struggled against the jacket that strapped his arms in a crisscross fashion making his arms stationary as he struggled against the chain.

"I can't believe you thought you could get away with disrupting my work." A deep male voice sounded as the man came into view of the doorway.

He had striking blue eyes that looked like they could pop out even in the darkness, his hair was a crisp gray with only his roots showing his original brown hair color. He was old that part Damian knew by the wrinkles that crinkled around the corner of his eyes and mouth, his chin had stubble gray hair that only made Damian realized the guy has not shaved or bathed for a very long time.

"Where's the big strong tough boy talk now? Hm?" The man asked as he smiled at Damian, showing yellow teeth that were clearly rotting in some places.

"Sorry, it took me a minute, through but the smell you having following you around took my breath away." Damian finally spat out at the man.

"Damian...Damian...Damian...Or..Should I really call you Ivan? Because that is your name after all. What you thought changing your name and dying your hair was going to stop me from finding you? After all...It is your twin I have at my disposal."

"Oh bite me. Ben and Atticus will see through Josh in a second! I would snap my fingers to show you what I mean, but uh...You get the picture." Damian mumbled as he fought against the straightjacket once more.

"...Will they? I mean...Atticus may be the smart one of the group, but, that little show he put on today shows he's really not thinking straight, and Ben? Please. Even if he could tell the difference between you and Josh, he can't fight, not with that arm. Thanks for showing me how powerful that dragon's fire truly was, by the way...Speaking of dragons...I must be off. Issiah is being tested today and well...So is Firedrake." The man smirked as he started to slowly back away.

"YOU HURT EITHER OF THOSE DRAGONS I WILL PERSONALLY PUT YOUR HEAD ON A PIKE!" Damian couldn't help but scream out. All the man did was just shut the door, leaving Damian alone again in the room he was locked in.

Screaming out loudly, he struggled against the jacket once more, he had to get out if it was the last thing he did!


	7. Chapter 7

_Ivan Newlands cradled a red telephone between his ear and his neck as he spoke to the person on the other side,_

 _"I just don't know about this...Why the sudden turn around?"_

 _"I don't know. I don't even think I should be alive right now...It doesn't matter, will you accept my help or not, Ivan?"_

 _"...How do I know you're just not working for...'Him'?"_

 _"I swear on my grave, I am not working for James Marrs."_

 _Ivan shuttered violently at the mention of his name. Still, he needed all the help he could get right now, being stranded in the middle of England with nothing but a stolen car and a few pounds on him... Sighing, Ivan, put a hand in his pocket and leaned against the phone booth,_

 _"How did you even find me?" Ivan questioned, and there was a low chuckle in response,_

 _"I always know where you are, you know that."_

 _"Yeah, meaning you stalk me...Alright...What do you need me to do? How can you help me get Issiah back?"_

 _"First things first. There are two more dragon riders-"_

 _"TWO?! I'm not alone?!"_

 _"Let me finish, Ivan. Good news, they are friends so they're easy to find. Bad news...One's a vampire...A very protective vampire. The other is human like you, he's actually no older than you._

 _"Jesus...How do you know this?"_

 _"They don't call me Info-guy for nothing...Heh...No matter here's the address for the human, the vampire shouldn't be far behind him, literally...Just...Don't be surprised if the boy isn't there. One more thing. Dye your hair. Keep low, nothing too suspicious."_

 _"Blue?!" Ivan asked happily, he's always wanted blue hair. Honestly, he didn't care what info-guy said, he was dying it blue._

 _"Ivan-"_

 _"Blue it is!" He happily cut him off and info-guy sighed in response,_

 _"Fine. But if you get caught in a week, it's on you."_

 _"Yessss, alright, what do I need to know about the riders?" Ivan silently cheered as he clapped his hands like a child._

 _"The first one is Benjamin Greenbloom...I honestly think you were destined to meet him. I know it sounds strange...But I digress, the second rider is O...Atticus Noel. Now, here's what you should do. Go to Ben first. Like I said don't be surprised if he's not there yet, just say you're in his class and you're concerned about him not being there for a while."_

 _"What? Is he a major class skipper or something?"_

 _"...It's a long story. Maybe I'll explain it later."_

 _"I have a feeling I'll never hear that story. But no matter, where does he live?"_

* * *

"...Urg..." Atticus groaned as he wiped some vomit away from his chin.

"Still think getting drunk last night was fun?" Ben asked as he sat up on the trunk of Damian's car, leaning back on his good arm as he watched Atticus's misery unfold.

"...Bleh..." Atticus groaned once again, causing Ben to chuckle.

"No, No, it's 'Blahhh, I vant to suck your blood'!" Ben teased slightly.

"Don't mock my species with that foolish stereotype," Atticus muttered as he finally stood up off of the forest floor to dust his legs off. "My head is pounding..." He complained and Ben just shook his head before impatiently tapping his fingers against the metal car.

"Your own fault. Drinking all that beer and then eating that food that you knew you couldn't digest properly."

"Alright, 'dad' cool it with the lecture. I'm eight hundred years old, I do what I want...So, what's the game plan?"

"Unsure, Info-guy hasn't sent me anything yet."

"Is it wise to trust him? If I am remembering last night correctly, he worked for these people before, and even told them how and when to catch Firedrake, which you are taking oddly...well? I mean your whole family has been kidnapped and you're not a worried mess?" Atticus asked all at once and Ben just sighed as he finally jumped off of the trunk of the car.

"I am worried, but panicking isn't going to help anybody in this situation. we are down one man and we need to keep our heads and wits about us. So, the best plan of action is to wait." Ben pointed out to Atticus as Atticus let out another low gag. Gently Ben held Atticus's faded green hair back as the vampire gagged then vomited once more.

"Besides. We can't exactly go to war with you upchucking every five minutes." Ben mumbled as he gently patted Atticus's back, Atticus spat out bitterly as he stood up more fully.

"I think that's all of it...God, I need some blood." Atticus looked at Ben who just pulled violently on Atticus's hair that was still in his grip.

"Don't even think about it. I've lost enough."

"Ow! OW! I wasn't! You know I don't drink human blood. Urg. I think I have some boar blood in my bag. Jeez." Atticus fought as he got his hair out of Ben's grip and walked back towards the car. Ben sighed out softly as he followed. With a big frown, a part of him wished Twigleg was here with him now. Twigleg would probably know what to do. Twigleg was smart, unlike him. Twigleg...

Twigleg wouldn't have gotten caught...Because he's so small...

"WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE HOUSE!" Ben yelled out to Atticus as his friend started to drink from a blood filled water bottle. Atticus swallowed a small sip before grimacing.

"Why you heard fake Damian, all we'll find is an empty house."

"Or will we?! Twigleg! Twigleg wouldn't of let himself get caught with the rest of them! Knowing him, he might have hidden in the walls! He wouldn't have come out until he knew I was safe! He might still be back there!" Ben yelled out as the revelation hit him. Atticus let out a soft hum as his eyebrows went up in thought.

"It's...Possible, from the time I spent with him, he might have stayed out of sight...However, if they knew of him, they could have still taken him by saying that they had you as well."

"Yes. that's a possibility as well, it's a fifty-fifty shot. But if Twigleg is still in the house then he knows where they were taken and we can start from there." Ben pointed out and Atticus frowned a bit before shrugging in response,

"Alright. But, what if it's a trap and people are waiting for us?"

"We still have to try."

"... Alright. I'm driving, though."

"Fine by me."

Both of them got into the car and Atticus was quick to drive out of the woods and onto the road. They sat in silence as Atticus kept his eyes on the road. Neither of them spoke, till finally, after about thirty minutes on the road, Ben finally broke the ice.

"Are we going to talk about last night?" Ben softly asked and Atticus just sighed.

"I got wasted-"

"Not that. You know what I want to talk about. You almost killed him."

"Ben-"

"You almost KILLED him!"

"Sometimes that's what you have to do!" Atticus yelled out as he slapped the steering wheel frustratingly. Sighing out, he looked at Ben, his friend now frowning and looking down at his nails with sudden interest. "...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled..." Atticus sighed.

"First time you actually apologized for yelling at me..." Ben mumbled and Atticus sighed out softly as he just rubbed his temples before shaking his head slightly.

"I messed up. Alright...You wouldn't understand what its like to be...What I am. I still have instincts, Ben. Truthfully, if you weren't there last night, I probably would have killed him...I was drunk and because of that, my instincts tend to take over tenfold. It's why I try to not drink." Atticus admitted softly and Ben just let out a soft sigh as he looked out the window, before back to Atticus.

"I'm sorry...I know Kuriana meant a lot to you..." Ben reached over and gently touched Atticus's hand, in response, Atticus gently held onto Ben's warm hand and just gazed sadly out of the windshield.

Kuriana, the last thing of Zenith's that was now gone. It wasn't fair, it truly wasn't fair, and it completely blindsided Atticus in every way imaginable. However, his mind a bit more clear, and his grief slowly subsisted just a bit, Atticus realized that he hasn't truly lost everything. Ben was still his friend, and he still had his three children all waiting for him when this gets done and over with.

"...You can let go now." Ben finally spoke after a few seconds of silence, Atticus quickly let go of Ben's hand.

"Sorry."

"It's alright." Looking forward, Ben saw the cloudy afternoon England sky slowly clear up, causing the sunlight to stream right into the windshield.

"AH!" Atticus screamed out as he quickly stomped on the breaks, luckily the street was abandoned, Atticus had his hands to his eyes as he hissed out in pain.

"S-Sunglasses! Hurry! I can't drive with the sun in my eyes and the hangover isn't helping!" Atticus yelled in pain as he kept his eyes covered.

"Hang on, I think there is a pair in the glove box." Ben quickly reached over and opened the glove box, that he realized he never locked the day before. Shifting through the clutter that was in the box. He knew he saw a pair yesterday, finally, he just took a good chunk of the clutter and put it on his lap as he cleaned out the box enough to find the sunglasses in the far back still intact. Reaching back there, Ben pulled out the glasses and handed them to Atticus. Atticus kept his eyes shut as he grabbed the glasses and put them over his eyes.

"Thanks..." Atticus muttered as he continued driving along the road. Ben let out a soft sigh as he started to pile all the clutter back into the glove box.

"...So is that how you figured out about who the fake Damian was?" Atticus asked as he looked at some of the stuff in Ben's lap.

"I found his real ID, his name is Ivan Newlands...But no, Info-guy told me, remember?"

"I remember almost stabbing Josh if that helps."

Ben just rolled his eyes and then leaned back in his seat still putting stuff away, he only paused when he came across what seemed to be an old picture. Atticus let out a sudden noise as he started to move around lifting his butt off the seat as he dug through the crack in between the seats finally finding what was causing his discomfort, he pulled out a carton of clearly hidden smokes.

"Ohhh, look what we have here, there are two left, you want one?" Atticus asked and he put one in his mouth, Ben just waved him off.

"I quit, but thanks for the offer..." Ben mumbled as he turned the photo over. Atticus shrugged and pushed the car's built in lighter in and waited for it to heat up.

"Look at this," Ben spoke up as he handed Atticus the picture.

It was clearly an older picture, it showed three boy's, two twins looking to be around thirteen years old and one smaller boy, no older than three himself. The twins were very clearly Ivan and Josh, only it showed that they both had natural orange hair and a pale complexation, though it was impossible to tell who was who. The three year old boy had thick curly brown hair that seemed to match Ben's own curly hair, only Ben's was black. One of the twins was clearly had the three year old in a half hug posing for the camera, while the other twin had his turned as his mouth was open, looking like he might have been talking to someone. Flipping the picture over, Atticus read the back.

 **Family Reunion, 2003**

 **Josh, Ivan, and Joseph.**

"Huh, wonder why he kept this," Atticus mumbled as the lighter popped out allowing him to light his smoke. Giving the picture back to Ben, Ben frowned as he looked at the picture.

"...I don't know..." Ben admitted, honestly out of everything in the glove compartment that he saw this was the oddest. Most things were things like game plans for the next hit, or stuff about his true identity. Maybe that's what it was, but it seemed so out of place.

"Eh, it just shows he's human, like you," Atticus spoke as he finally focused back on the road.

"You're human too, at least, you're half."

"Meh, give or take. I feel like I stopped being human once I died." Atticus admitted as he huffed out some smoke from his lungs.

"Yeah..." With a sigh, Ben put the picture back into the glove box and shut it before he looked out the window tiredly.

"...Why don't you get some sleep, you look like crap." Atticus asked as looked at Ben and noticed how oddly weak his friend looked.

"...Pull over..." Ben finally spoke up. Atticus just snorted.

"Why?"

"PULL OVER!" Ben yelled out socking Atticus in the arm. Atticus did so and watched as Ben shot out of the car. On the road on all fours, Ben started to gag out and retch. Atticus could only watch, cigarette dangling out of his mouth limply as he stared. Finally, Ben came back looking pale and clammy.

"Alright...I think I'm good..." Ben sniffled.

"Let me see your arm," Atticus demanded as he suddenly grabbed Ben's arm, he was gentle as he undid the sling and slowly started to pull back the bandages. Atticus gasped as an unpleasant smell hit his nose causing him to cough and wheeze. He didn't pull the bandage all the way off but he could see it was infected by the purple discoloration of the wound and the obvious pus leaking out.

"...Jesus Christ! AH!" Atticus cringed briefly before slowly wrapping the wound back up.

"I'm taking you to the hospital," Atticus growled out as he quickly went down the road.

"No." Was all Ben said.

"Yes! Ben that is infected, you could die!"

"And so could you! We are already one down, Orrick! I'm not going to the hospital until I know my family is all safe! I can push through this!" Ben fought back.

"...Ben...How long have you known it was infected?" Atticus responded to Ben's shout as he grinded his teeth bitterly. "...Since last night...I can't even feel my arm anymore." Ben admitted softly as he looked up at the roof of the car.

"...Dammit, Ben...I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Atticus, I love you like a brother, you know that, but if you bring me to a hospital I swear to god I will wear all silver for the rest of my damn life and make sure everything I eat has garlic in it! You are not taking me to a hospital!"

"Ben I'm raising three children, I hear that daily. Try again."

"At least...Let me go home and see if Twigleg is there, please."

Hearing the soft tone made Atticus sigh out weakly.

"Very well, then we go to the hospital! No, if's, and's, or But's. Understood?" Atticus growled as he finally continued driving.

"Fine." Ben agreed and Atticus let out a huff in response as he finally went back to smoking his cigarette. Letting out a shaky breath, he looked over to Ben who was now unconscious.

"Ben?" Atticus asked concerned for his friend, reaching over, he tapped Ben's shoulder, instantly Ben started with a jump.

"What!? What?!" Ben frantically looked around and then quickly let out a soft sigh of relief.

"..." Atticus decided to probably not press the issue as he frowned deeply and focused back on the road. Smoking the cigarette, he let out a sudden cough before just shaking his head.

Thankfully the Greenblooms weren't too far away after that, at ten minutes they parked out front the home and Ben hummed out softly.

"The front door is open...There's a wrench in the trunk." Was all Ben said to that as he got out and made his way to the truck that Atticus popped open for him. Atticus got out of the car and walked to the trunk, he watched as Ben seemed to have troubles holding the wrench up, it worried Atticus way more than it should have. With a heavy frown, Atticus grabbed the wrench from Ben's hand with ease.

"Just...Stay behind me, ok, buddy?" Atticus smiled at Ben who weakly nodded.

"Alright..." Ben mumbled rather tiredly as he seemed to wobble back and forth.

Atticus turned and walked forward, he could hear Ben's own footsteps behind him as they both cautiously walked inside the home.

Atticus cringed at the inside of the home. The whole place was trashed showing that there was, in fact, some sort of scuffle. The door was bent at the lock and what looked to be a footprint was in the middle of the door. The dining room was in complete disarray, the table flipped over along with all of the chairs. The couch was moved and slanted downwards, the coffee tables by the couch were overturned the table and one was even broken, clearly, whoever did this hated furniture.

Holding the wrench like it was a baseball bat, Atticus narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward.

"Twiggy? You still in here?" Atticus questioned as he searched around. Avoiding the living room, Atticus tried the stairs at first. Cautiously stepping up the stairs, he heard them creak under his weight as he did so. He was so into his own cautiousness that it never bothered him that he never heard Ben's own footsteps behind him. Breathing out, he heard it a loud and sudden shuffle from Guinevere's room.

There was someone still in the house, the shuffle was too large to be Twigleg's, instantly Atticus narrowed his eyes. Stealth be damned. Rushing up the stairs at a fast rate he rushed towards the room.

At the same time whoever was in Guin's room opened the door causing the two to rush at each other.

In all honesty, Atticus was not expecting Guinevere to actually come rushing at him. Before she realized it was even him, Atticus was met with a slap to the face, as almost expected at this point, followed by a weak push. Then a sudden assault of punches that honestly didn't hurt, she should stick to slapping.

"Oof. Guin, it's me!" Atticus yelled as she actually managed to throw a good punch to his stomach causing him to double over.

"Atticus?! Jesus, don't scare me like that!" She yelled out, Atticus stood up and rubbed his stomach, he instantly felt relief flood over him when he saw Twigleg clinging to her shoulder.

"How did you not get caught?" He asked Guinevere directly, she teared up slightly and sniffled weakly.

"I was at school when it happened. I don't know why they never came for me. Maybe they just thought that I only had two siblings. I don't know." she confessed softly. "Thankfully Twigleg kept me company, we were just thinking of what we should do, then you showed up...Where's Ben?" Guinevere asked, causing Atticus to turn to see nothing behind him.

"Ben?" Atticus called out towards the downstairs, nothing. Instantly he rushed downstairs, Guinevere behind him. Jumping down the last set of steps, Atticus crouched and looked around, seeing Ben on the floor made his still heart almost jump into his throat. Ben let out a low wheezy breath as he stared up blankly at the ceiling above him. Ben's eyes were glossed over as he looked up.

"Ben!" Guinevere screamed out horrified, Twigleg let out a loud gasp as he put his tiny hands to his mouth as he stared at Ben tears streaming down his face.

Atticus put a hand back to Guinevere stopping her from approaching Ben, getting down on one knee so he was at level with Ben. Bringing his hand up, Atticus brought his fingers up to Ben's eyes and gently snapped his fingers in different directions to try and get Ben to focus, but Ben's eyes never moved. Ben just started to shake horribly, thankfully it wasn't a seizure, but Atticus was smart, he knew shock when he saw it.

"Shit! Guin! Here." Tossing the keys to her, she caught them with ease. "Start the car and open the back door! Hurry, we don't have time!" Atticus yelled to her, she nodded numbly before slowly walking away. Atticus slowly and gently he scooted one of his arms under Ben's knees and pushed his other arm under Ben's shoulders. Gently with a simple and quick movement, he had Ben in his arms. Acting quickly Atticus turned and rushed out with Ben in his arms. Getting outside of the home, he could hear the car running as he rushed over. Guinevere had the back door open allowing Atticus to gently place Ben in the backseat and quickly got to the driver's side while Guinevere and Twigleg sat up front, both looking back at Ben worriedly.

"Nearest hospital, where is it?" Atticus demanded.

"Next to my campus, just go into the town, you can't miss it!" Guin spoke up never breaking away from Ben. Atticus could see the tears streaming down her face, biting his lip Atticus quickly drove out of the driveway and speedily made it towards the town, going way beyond the speed limit, Atticus let out a shaky breath and hoped that no cops will stop him. Hearing the car rev as he continued to go way too fast into the town. Seeing a light up ahead, he watched as it just turned yellow and narrowed his eyes.

"Atti-" Twigleg breathed out in shock as the light turned red and before they knew it he ran the light causing Twigleg to scream out fearfully as he did so. Thankfully avoiding any crashes. Atticus could see the hospital just up ahead and he quickly turned the car into the lot causing the tires to squeal as he slammed on the breaks in front of the ER. Getting out of the car, Atticus didn't bother with the door as he opened the backseat door.

"Sir, you can't park here!" A nurse stormed up to him.

"Please, you have to help us!" Guinevere panicked as she got out of her own side.

All Atticus had to do was take the bloody wrapping off of Ben's arm and show it to the nurse in a bit of a dramatic fashion as he gestured towards Ben. The look of horror on the woman's face was almost priceless as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she backed up shocked.

"Don't move him!" She ordered she turned and ran inside in a quick panic. They didn't have to wait long as she came back with a stretcher, four other nurses and an older gentleman who was clearly the doctor.

"Move." The doctor ordered as he pushed Atticus to the side. Three nurses put Ben up on the stretcher and tied him down quickly.

"How long has this burn wound been untreated for?!" The doctor demanded to Atticus who cringed as Guinevere sobbed out softly.

"...About a week now..."

"I don't know why you didn't take him to the hospital in the first place! That wound is horrid! It's infected anyone with a brain can see that!"

The nurses and the doctor quickly started towards the emergency room with Ben on the stretcher, Atticus watched them go, one burning question in the back of his mind as he stared at them.

"Wait! What's going to happen to him!?" Guinevere finally screamed, the exact same question on Atticus's mind. The doctor turned, they watched as he put his mask on as he stared them both down, finally, after a few seconds he spoke up,

" In all Honesty...His arm could have been saved if it was treated properly, there's nothing else we can do. I'm sorry."

Atticus only stood there numbly at the news his hands shaking and feeling oddly cold even for being dead, he felt cold and shocked as his hand silently went to his mouth. Guinevere suddenly collapsed next to him in a fit of sobs, everything that happened today too much for her as she finally just broke down and cried as hard as she could. Atticus could only look at her, unsure of what to do or say as she was on her knees, arms curled around her stomach as tears fell to the ground below her. Atticus could hear Twigleg crying as well, hidden somewhere on her. Finally, Atticus could only look up at the clouded England sky his mind, for once, blank at what to do. He could only say one word as he looked up at the sky,

"Why?"


	8. Chapter 8

Damian was sitting in the corner of his room, straight jacket still on keeping his movement very stiff as he just stared blankly ahead. His stomach let out a weak growl, it has been a while since he last ate and he needed something soon, but he wasn't about to ask them for food. Not until he knew he really needed it. How long has been stuck in here now? There's no clock or window, so no time for him. He knew it had to be at least a day, maybe two. Honestly, he had no idea how long he slept for, it could be three days for all he knew.

He hoped Ben and Atticus were safe, that they figured out it was his twin and not him. He hoped Firedrake and Issiah were safe as well, that James didn't harm them too much.

Licking his dry lips, Damian slowly rocked back and forth once more. He needed to get out of here but the damn straight jacket didn't give him any wiggle room like it's intended purpose to keep his arms stationary. He just needed to move his non-dominate arm up his dominate shoulder but he was having trouble with that particular part. They must have known he'd try to escape because the chain that kept him from moving too far restricted his arm movements and blocked his path to his shoulder.

With a sigh, Damian lightly moved his head up at the door opening. He didn't rush at the person, he just looked at them, and smiled. His twin stood there, a tray of food and a glass of water in his hands, but that's not what made Damian smile, it was the beat up face of his twin, showing that he was indeed caught.

"Josh...You've looked better." Damian commented slyly.

"Ha." Was all Josh could sarcastically say as he sat the food down in front of Damian.

"...I was wondering when you guys were going to feed me." Damian mumbled as he looked down at the food, it was simple oatmeal with the glass of water beside it.

"...We weren't supposed to..." Josh mumbled softly as he turned and walked back towards the door, but he paused just before he left.

"Listen...You know we've been following you guys since you came back to town...So...I should tell you Ben was admitted to the hospital about eight hours ago. I don't know more than that." With that Josh left shutting the door behind him as he did so.

Damian looked at the water and oatmeal before sighing out.

"...Oh god..." Was all he could say before looking up at the nearest wall. Squeezing his eyes tight, Damian felt a few tears roll down his cheeks freely as he swallowed hard. "...Be alright, please, be alright..."

* * *

Josh let out a soft sigh as he approached James Marrs in his office, the man said nothing to Josh as he just looked out at the room before him, the two dragons currently trapped, both their legs, muzzles, tails, and wings clamped down by metal arms restricting their movements only allowing them to move their eyes. Right next to the dragons where the Greenblooms and Oliver all in a glass prison, holes in the prison for air, and a small slit for food. Josh couldn't stop the sigh that left his mouth.

"Something is troubling you..." James spoke up as he turned to face Josh, Josh looked away from the harsh blue eyes that James bore as he looked down shamefully,

"I have failed you..." Josh mumbled softly. Instantly James's cold's hands cupped his cheeks as he was forced to look James in the eyes.

"Yes. Yes, you did. However, your failure has brought us something greater. The Dragon Rider, Benjamin, is in the hospital, he's the one I'm truly after. I want to see how much it takes to watch a dragon break. I've seen how a vampire breaks, now for the bigger picture...Do not worry, My son. I have a new simpler task for you." Letting go of Josh's face, James turned and opened his desk drawer before removing a knife.

The knife was rather large, the handle barely fitting in the palm of his hand. The handle was carved with silver, a large cross shown on the handle.

"That knife is not only a hundred percent silver, but I had had personally blessed by the oldest Christian monk alive. In short. That Knife is the ultimate vampire killer. You don't need to aim for his heart or neck. Just hit him and he'll die just from the littlest scratch."

"Y-You want me to kill the vampire?" Josh asked softly.

"He's strong and fast, he'll be a pain in the side if you don't...Please, Joshua..No Me Falles otra vez."

"Yo haré lo mejor que pueda, Padre."Josh hardened as he put the knife in his pocket. James smiled gently as he turned back to look at his prisoners.

"One more thing...Bring me Oliver...Or should I say...Zenith. I have a pleasant surprise waiting for him."

* * *

Atticus looked over at Guinevere as he silently sipped his hospital grade coffee, the poor girl hasn't said a thing since Ben's been admitted. It's been almost ten hours now, truthfully as much as he'd like to stay, he knew he couldn't. Damian, the Greenblooms, Firedrake, and Oliver all needed someone to help them now. With Ben out of the picture, it was only up to him now, meaning he needed a plan of attack, meaning, He needed Twigleg.

Sighing out, he walked up to Guinevere, she looked up at him, her face tear stained, eyes red and puffy as she stared numbly at him.

"Guin, listen to me. I need Twigleg right now."

She sniffled a bit before looking around to make sure the coast was clear. Finally, she reached into her coat pocket and pulled him out, Twigleg said nothing, he just had his head down weakly as he was handed to Atticus, Who quickly cupped hands around Twigleg.

"I'll be back." He mumbled as he walked away towards the bathroom. Looking quickly for any feet, not seeing any, he uncupped his hands.

"Alright, listen, I know right now is tough, but you were there when the rest were taken. Right?" Atticus asked quickly to Twigleg.

"..."

"Twigleg! Focus! Please, I need you right now!" Atticus cried weakly to him.

"...Yeah.."

"Did they mentioned anywhere they were going to?"

"...No...Nowhere, they just came in...Took everyone and left. I had to hide in the walls...Because I'm such a coward..." Twigleg sobbed out softly as he started to cry and Atticus sighed before gently patting Twigleg's hair with a simple finger.

"It's alright...Let's just go and talk to Guinevere, alright..." Atticus sighed as he put Twigleg on his shoulder.

"I should be hiding..."

"Eh. There aren't that many people in here anyway. It's fine." Atticus softly told him softly as he walked out of the bathroom. Looking up towards Guinevere, he frowned at two male police officers talking to her. "Ok...I lied..." Atticus mumbled as Twigleg silently hid in the sleeve of his shirt. Swallowing a bit, Atticus walked up to them picking up a small bit of their conversation as he did so.

"-Don't worry, Ms. Greenbloom, we'll find the people who took your family, just come along with us." One officer softly told her as he started to walk back towards the door.

"...I can't, I should stay with my brother." Guinevere muttered slightly.

"Well, Ms. Greenbloom, I can understand that, but for your protection, I insist you come with me and my partner. Don't worry about your brother, we already have a third officer going up to his room now."

At that, Atticus finally felt the need to join in.

"I'm sorry." Atticus smiled at them as he stepped beside Guinevere, leaning in slightly he whispered, "Did you call them?"

She shook her head no and Atticus tensed up almost instantly, the officers noticed this and Atticus watched as one put his hand on his taser almost in a threatening way.

"Now, look, we just think its for the best if you all come with us-" The same officer started but Atticus was having none of it as he narrowed his eyes.

"You said you had a third officer going to my friend's room? How is that when he isn't even out of surgery yet? In fact, how did you even find us seeing how neither her, or, I, called you gents? I'm sorry. We aren't going in anywhere with you."

"You listen here...Vampire...We really think it'd be in your best interest that you come with us. If not...Well...I don't think your friend will ever make out of surgery then." The officer growled lowly at Atticus getting into his face as he did so. Guinevere let out a sudden gasp and put her hands to her mouth in shock, she quickly looked back and forth between Atticus and the officer, unsure of what to say or do.

"..." Atticus let out a low growl himself before he finally balled up his fist in rage. If there was one thing he was tired of these last few days, it was how much Ben was being threatened. Finally, he let his rage loose.

Without thinking, Atticus punched the officer in the gut, causing the few people in the waiting room to all gasp and look at him. The officer doubled over, allowing Atticus to grab the guy's back and simultaneously push the man into his knee while he put all of his weight into thrusting his knee up into the guy's gut. The other officer went at him almost instantly, pulling out his taser and shooting, Atticus fell to his knees in pain as the sudden current of electricity surged through him. Grinding his teeth menacingly, Atticus managed to bring himself to stand up as he yanked the cords out of his chest with a cry of pain. He hoped to god that Twigleg as alright.

"It helps to have a dead heart," Atticus told the man, with a sickening smirk on his face. The man pulled out a baton, that caused Atticus to actually grab the man by the wrist that was holding the baton up. Instantly the two of them got into a power struggle, the man proving to be wildly strong.

"Atticus!" Guinevere suddenly screamed out, causing Atticus to turn his head. The officer who he had kneed, was now up and forcing her towards the door. He had his arms around her middle causing to frantically kick her legs in the air as she tried her hardest to wiggle out of his grip.

"Guin-"

Losing focus, Atticus let his strength slip from him and the other guard got a hit in straight to his head. Atticus hit the ground, his vision blurry and his hearing making it sound like he was in a tunnel as he could only hardly hear the guards talk to one another.

"Hurry, cuff him!" Trying to get up, Atticus felt a foot suddenly plant itself on the back of his head as he could hear Guinevere screaming madly, her screams fading as whoever had her brought her outside. Whoever was on him managed to handcuff him and suddenly force him up to his feet. His vision spun and his head throbbed in pain where the guy had struck him.

"You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence." The guy spoke up bitterly to him acting like he was officially under arrest and Atticus rolled his eyes bitterly.

"Really? Why bother with the act? They have you on camera kidnapping my friend's sister." Atticus asked as the officer walked him forward, hand on Atticus's cuffed hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about. You and here were RESISTING ARREST!" The officer suddenly screamed out the last part towards the witnesses, sending a warning glare their way. They just nodded weakly and quickly looked away from the officer as he started to drag Atticus away towards the outside.

"Cowards." Atticus seethed over towards the people as he was now being dragged away. Being lost in his own thoughts, Atticus failed to realize that Twigleg was no longer with him.

* * *

Twigleg hurried down the hospital hallway as fast as his little legs would allow him. He got away as soon as he could from the fight. It was cowardly, yes, but, he had to see Ben. The only question was now, where was he exactly? He'd have to listen to the nurses or find Ben's file to find out which room he was in, which was honestly going to be tricky.

Hearing his tiny shoes squeak against the pristine hospital tile floor, he hurried down the hallway. Quickly he turned and hid behind a cart leg once he heard two women chatting it up as they rushed down the hallway.

"-Two arrests in the waiting room!?" He heard a female exclaim as they ran passed the cart without a second glance. Once they were far enough, he turned and continued running. However he didn't run for too long as he passed, what seemed to be, a changing room for the doctors and nurses, a glass jar suddenly halted him, causing him to hit the glass full force. Falling back weakly, Twigleg clutched on to his big nose.

"Gotcha!" A male voice spoke as Twigleg was now lifted into the air causing him to fall back onto the palm of the stranger. Being forced to look into the stranger's face Twigleg only gasped out.

"Y-You!"

"I was hoping I'd run into you again..."

* * *

Oliver fought rather pitifully against the guards that held his arms. He dragged his feet and tried to wiggle his arm out of the guard's grip, but to no avail. They had just came into his cell and started to drag him out against his will. He just barely got used to the idea of not one but two dragons being in the same room as him.

Both of the dragons where now snarling and growling from their own prisons but they couldn't move as Oliver fought and yelled to the teenager just standing there a few yards away. "Atticus was right to not trust you!" Oliver snarled to the blue haired teen in front of him. The teen just smirked unnaturally to Oliver.

"Please! Just let him go!" Barnabas yelled out from his prison as he hit the glass in a panicked matter. "Damian...Why? I...Atticus was right.." Barnabas breathed out. Finally, he became angry as his he snarled out "Where's my son!?"

"Yeah well...Shows what you get for not believing him, and don't worry about him." With that, the four of them all walked out of the room, Oliver fighting as hard as he could against the guards. Going down a long hallway, Oliver weakly rocked himself from side to side, growling and grunting as he tried to free his arms.

"C'mon! Ben put up a stronger fight than you! Move it!" With a growl, Josh suddenly kicked Oliver behind his knees causing the man to suddenly buckle and almost fall to the ground. If it weren't for the guards holding him up, he probably would have fallen face first.

"...What did you do with my son?" Oliver sacredly asked as he swallowed hard and stood to his feet. He was being dragged once more, but still, he had his head turned so he could look at Josh.

Josh could only snort at Oliver in response.

"Still going with that 'he's my son.' BS, huh, Zenith?"

"...What? What does...A zenith have to do with anything?" Oliver asked, Josh, rolled his eyes and walked ahead of Oliver and the guards.

"Sure. Whatever, act like you know nothing. But it doesn't matter."

They all reached the end of the hall and Oliver felt his blood slowly run cold as he stared up at a large door in front of him. There was a moment of silence the teen walked up to the door and flashed a key card to the door in one quick movement, Oliver was tossed inside and the door slammed shut behind him almost instantly.

Looking around, Oliver could see that the room was oddly spacious couldn't be longer than a football field. There was a knocked over desk and filing cabinet that appeared to be empty Cautiously walking farther in, Oliver could see in the light that there seemed to be a giant metal plate just sitting normally in the middle of the room. Expecting something to pop out at him, Oliver cautiously looked back and forth between the door and the metal disk on the floor. Getting closer to the metal disk, he could see it was almost like a bowl or an ashtray in a sense. It was flat on the bottom but in the middle, it was carved inwards. Tilting his head to the side. Oliver noted something in the corner of his eye upon the ceiling.

Slowly moving his head up Oliver felt a gasp leave his mouth as he was looking up at a giant bird, this bird was larger than the two dragons he saw before. It had golden brown feathers and a golden beak. It was sitting on a beam holding up a florescent light. It took one look at Oliver and suddenly let out a loud screech that echoed around the room causing Oliver to put his hands to his ears. The bird then took off after him. Oliver went running back to the door and started to bang on it with all his might.

"OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DOOOR-AHHHHHHH" Letting out an unmanly scream, Oliver managed to dodge as the bird swooped down for him, it's sharp talons just barely missing his shoulders, as he hit the wall in a panicked state.

 **"You honestly thought you could betray me?"** A male's voice with a slight Hispanic twist spoke over the intercom of the room. Causing the bird to suddenly go up into the air and screech out as it tried to attack the ceiling. Clawing and screeching as loud as it possibly could.

Oliver slowly and silently walked around the bird hoping it wouldn't spot him.

 **"Everyone thinks I'm dumb for thinking you're Zenith. I'm no idiot..."**

Oliver dove behind the overturned desk and shakily put his hands to his face. He wanted to yell, to scream, but at the same time, he didn't want to alert the demon bird of his presence. Breathing heavily, Oliver shook as he huddled behind the desk.

 **"Let's see how long you'll last against this monstrosity."**

Oliver gulped as the bird seemed to lose interest in the ceiling and suddenly laid down in the giant bowl on the floor, which Oliver now realized as a nest for the monster. Shaking horribly, Oliver could only sit there numbly unable to move or breath as he looked straight ahead at the wall in front of him. What was he going to do?

Was he going to die here? Now? After finally seeing his son after three years of wondering what happened to him?...

No.

Oliver narrowed his eyes darkly at the wall. If Ben could get out of sticker situations like being outnumbered two to one, then so could he. He just needed to think of a plan.

* * *

Ben felt warm it was a comfortable warm. A type of warmth that you never wanted to leave or get out of. There was a nice smell floating around the room he was in, it smelt like, flowers...Or laundry soap, maybe both?

"...Master?" Twigleg's voice softly spoke to him. Twigleg wasn't on his shoulder, no, he was too far away for that. That alone caused Ben to crack his eyes open. For a moment he looked for Twigleg but couldn't see him in the room. In fact, the only light in the whole room was right on him, like an odd spotlight of some sort. Slowly sitting up, Ben tried to look for Twigleg but couldn't see anything because of the light on him. All he could see was a tall figure hidden in the shadows.

"...Twigleg?" Ben cautiously question, there was a moment of silence before Twigleg spoke,

"Yes...but...Who you're seeing isn't me."

Ben narrowed his eyes as he tried to move his arms to scoot towards the edge of the stretcher he was on, but one arm refused to comply. Looking down at his right arm. Ben could only let out a shaky gasp as tears started to fill his eyes.

He had no right arm.

With his left arm, he reached over to the nub but off at his elbow and touched it slightly before pulling back.

"No...No...Oh god...No..." He sobbed out softly. As he let out a gut-wrenching sob. He felt his whole body shake as he once more reached out and touched what was left. Feeling tears roll down his cheeks and down his neck, wetting his collar, Ben for a moment was just lost in his own sadness as he just cried out softly.

"...It had to happen, I'm sorry." A voice suddenly spoke out. Causing Ben to suddenly sniffle and cough out. Looking at the figure in the distance. Ben let out a shaky breath, there was something familiar about the voice.

"...C...Come into the light." Ben spoke up as he tried to place the voice.

"I can't. I might...cause you more emotional damage if I do."

"Master, please listen to him." Twigleg softly spoke, Ben could hear the sadness in his voice that mimicked Ben's own sadness.

Ben sniffled weakly as he shook his head and sobbed once more.

"I just lost an arm...I don't think I can be even more emotionally broken."

"...Listen...It's for the best if I-"

Ben, no longer wanting to hear this guy's excuse, grabbed the light above his head and forced over towards the guy, cutting him off. Ben suddenly let out a gasp as he let the light go and put his one hand to his mouth in shock.

"No..." Ben shook his head violently. "You're dead...You..."

Slowly the man came into the light, he was tall. Almost as tall as Atticus, his once blonde hair, now ghostly white hair slick back into a ponytail, he had steel blue eyes that seemed to bore into Ben's soul. His face square and hardened, there was a scar on his right cheek that seemed to resemble a rope necklace. Ben knew just who he was looking at.

"...Zenith..." Was all Ben could say, Zenith said nothing as he turned his head

"Or...As you and Damian like to call me...Info-guy."

Translations

James: Do not fail me again.

Josh: I will do my best.


	9. Chapter 9

Ben didn't know what to say or do as he warily looked at Zenith up and down. The clone said nothing as he looked down, his eyes on Ben's missing arm. Ben looked away from Zenith, his eyes moved around the darkened room as he saw the dryer in the corner of the room. So, Zenith managed to hide him away in a laundry room.

"...I see you dyed your hair." Ben mumbled finally unsure of what to really say.

"I didn't dye it. When Firedrake hit me with his fire, this is what happened." Zenith explained emotionlessly as he ran his fingers through his white hair. Ben couldn't look at him all he could do was look down at his missing arm.

"Listen to me." Zenith finally spoke up a bit more sternly, gaining Ben's fearful attention once more. Narrowing his blue eyes, Ben felt anger rise in him and before he could stop he spoke up,

"Why should I? You...You starved and STABBED me, Why should I listen to you!?"

Getting off of the stretcher, Ben got into Zenith's face with an angry snarl on his own face the two of them stared each other down. A part of Ben expected Zenith to maybe push or shove him down, to hit him, even. Zenith didn't move, he didn't even tense up, he only looked down at Ben and showed no emotions as he did so.

"Sit back down, let me explain what I can," Zenith demanded, Zenith then brought his hand up to his shoulder and handed Ben, Twigleg, the manikin quickly scrambled up Ben's good arm and rested silently on Ben's shoulder. Slowly, and cautiously, Ben sat down on the stretcher.

"Alright...I'm listening."

"...As you know, I am not the real Zenith, just a clone. Do you know how I came to be?"

"...No..." Ben wearily spoke towards him as he gently picked up Twigleg and held him in his hand.

"Well, in short, I was made from Zenith's old memories by the witch and she added something else...She made me a vampire."

"Yes, I remember that. Because when you stabbed me, that's when I figured it out." Ben smartly commented, still expecting Zenith to turn angry, but no, he got something else. He watched as Zenith's now blue eyes flood over with emotion...Guilt.

"Yes...But what you don't know is that the blood that made me a vampire was Atticus's own blood-"

"Wait a minute! Atticus's blood can't do that! He's half-blood, his blood should have just killed you...Again!" Ben quickly snapped at him.

Zenith put a hand up to silence Ben, Ben bit his tongue as he waited for Zenith to continue.

"You are aware that a witch made me, correct? She made me, the only thing in this world, able to drink the blood of a half vampire and become undead, instead of just dead. However, Atticus said it best, his blood is poison. Even though I was already dead, his blood was still affecting me in negative ways much like poison. I couldn't feed on anything. The only thing I could drink...Was the witch's own blood."

"What?" Ben questioned as he stared Zenith down. "If that's the case...Then why did you kill her?"

"...Suicide mission. It was my mission to kill you."

"...Is that what the witch told you?"

Zenith just shook his head slowly and cautiously as he seemed unnaturally guilty by this point as he couldn't even look at Ben.

"Then who?"

"Does the name James Marrs mean anything to you?"

There was a moment of silence between the two of them as Ben could only focus on Twigleg, who was now looking at Ben's missing arm sadly. Ben swallowed hard as he looked up at Zenith, finally, and spoke coolly to the other man,

"You're telling me, that you worked for not one, but, two people trying to kill me at the same time?"

"I'm not proud of it. At least, not now...James wanted the witch out of the way, he promised me safety, all the blood I could drink, it didn't matter if it was human or animal blood, I thought, maybe I didn't need the witch and I took what little blood she gave me and killed her, you know what happened after that." Zenith sighed out as he ran his fingers through his hair, messing up the ponytail, forcing him to let his hair down as he silently redid his ponytail.

"How did you survive Firedrake's fire? If you're a half-blood-"

"Was." Zenith corrected him, his hair now back to normal. Crossing his arms, Zenith frowned slightly, "You're a dragon rider. You know what dragon fire can and cannot heal, correct?"

Ben nodded and Zenith continued,

"Atticus was right, his blood was poison making me sick, the witches blood was no better, her blood was an illness if anything. Now. What do you get when you take dragon fire, that cures illness and poison, and combine that with a person who is sick by both of those things? What do you get?"

"...Someone who SHOULD be a pile of dust..." Ben spat back bitterly, Twigleg now back on his shoulder, as Ben went to cross his arms to mimic Zenith, only to have the cold reality set in as he stared down at his missing arm once more.

"You get the cure for half blood vampirism. At least, a cure if you're like me. Don't go putting Atticus up against Firedrake to see if it'll work for him." Zenith joked slightly giving an awkward chuckle at his joke, making Ben feel...Uncomfortable, to say the least. Zenith then lets out the cough as he looked at Ben. "In short...Firedrake made me human again."

"...And your hair turning white?"

"...I don't know...I really don't...It's...The only thing I can't explain why it happened."

There was a long pause as Zenith finally uncrossed his arms and walked over to Ben.

"Now, you got your answers. So please understand, that I am on your side." Zenith softly spoke to Ben, Ben instantly started to stutter and stumble over his words as he tried to find the right thing to say, but finally, in the end, All Ben could get out was just a soft,

"How...Why?"

Zenith looked ready to reply, but then turned his head and quickly put a finger to his lip as he walked over to the door to the room. Opening the door, the bright fluorescence hospital lights flooded into the darkened laundry room, making Ben and Twigleg both cringe at the bright lights. Ben walked towards the door, only to have Zenith pull him behind him as he peeked cautiously out the door.

"-Lock the hospital down! That's an order, doctor!" Came a barking demand as a cop came around the corner with a doctor the two of them marched passed the door. Once they were gone far enough away Zenith grabbed Ben's arm and silently the two slipped from behind the doctor and officer and quickly ducked into another room. Shutting the door behind him, Zenith got to his knees and urged Ben to do the same.

"What's going on?" Ben whispered as he subconsciously clung to Zenith's arm with his hand.

"They work for James, we need to leave fast."

"Ok...I can't believe I'm saying this, but, lead the way." Ben mumbled. Zenith looked around for a few seconds before pulling out his flip phone and looking at it for a few seconds.

"Can you text later, mate?" Ben asked rather bitterly and Zenith just rolled his eyes before looking around the room they were in. It looked like a normal break room, a small table sitting in the middle of the room, a small window above a mini fridge. Flipping his phone shut, Zenith turned his attention to the window. Sucking in a deep breath, Zenith walked over and stepped on top of the fridge so he could open the small window with ease.

"...Please tell me you don't want to scale this building..." Ben spoke up, Zenith ignored him and just proceeded to stick his head out of the window.

"Well, I would have suggested it, but, this window is kind of snug." Zenith confessed once he realized he couldn't fit his shoulders passed the opening. Watching Zenith cautiously, as the man now tried to wiggle himself farther out of the window to see if it was passible, managing to get one arm out, Zenith twisted himself to the side to try and wiggle out that way. however, halfway through, on his side, legs in the air. Zenith realized something horrifying.

"O-Ok...I'm stuck." Zenith spoke up as he wiggled his legs in the air to prove his point. "I didn't think this through, B-Ben help!" He demanded as kicked his long legs dramatically behind him. Ben sighed and took a step forward, only to pause suddenly.

"Master?" Twigleg whispered. Ben narrowed his blue eyes bitterly and slowly took a step back. Why should he trust Zenith? Just because he said he changed doesn't mean a thing. For all Ben knew, Zenith was just leading him into a trap.

"Ben!" Zenith yelled out in a familiar tone, an angry aggressive tone, one that sent a shiver down Ben's spine. Looking from side to side, Ben turned and promptly ran out of the room.

"Is this wise?!" Twigleg asked frantically as Ben quickly ran down the hallway.

"Twigleg, I trust him as about as far as I can throw him! This is clone Zenith we're talking about here! I'm sorry. I'm not trusting him." Ben explained as he jogged down some steps.

"Let's just focus on getting out of here, I need some clothes anyway," Ben told Twigleg a bit more calmly as he looked at the hospital gown he was in. Stopping, Ben sucked in a deep breath as he got ready to run straight down the hallway. Only to suddenly pause as a cop started towards him. Ben gritted his teeth and turned around ready to run back up the stairs only to see the same cop and doctor as before. Turning back around, Ben saw that the first cop wasn't alone as another officer had now joined him making it four to one.

"Benjamin, I was wondering where you had run off to, please, you must rest, that arm is newly stitched. We can't have it reopening." The doctor spoke to him calmly as he took a step down. Ben backed away from him only to run into another officer.

The officer didn't wait and instead, he grabbed Ben by his good arm.

"No!" Ben snarled out as he yanked his good arm out of the officer's grip and backed right into the doctor.

"Now, now, Benjamin don't worry, this will just calm you down, clearly you're in a panic." Seeing a needle in the doctor's hand now, Ben tried to fight back, but a cop managed to grab him and pacify him just enough for the doctor to prick him with the needle and inject him with whatever it was. Managing to knock them off of him, Ben already felt sleepy but fought against it as the doctors and officers just laughed at him all shaking their head. Ben could hear his breath in his ears as he felt like he was on the verge of blacking out right there.

"Alright, grab the brat." A cop spoke, his voice insanely deep as it also sounded like he at the far end of a tunnel.

About ready to fall over, Ben fell to his knees and just looked at all of them. Right before he blacked out, he saw a flash suddenly go to the doctor. He could see white hair in a flurry as Zenith was now fighting the cops. His vision almost going completely black, Ben fell to his side and could just hardly see Zenith as it was now a loud struggle between the four of them against him. Right before completely going to sleep.

Ben heard a gun shot...

* * *

 _Ben let out a bitter sigh as he looked over at Damian, his friend asleep on the cold floor of shower room the two of them paid for the night. They couldn't sleep in the car, not tonight, they were being hunted by James's little army tonight. After freeing the first dragon for the mad man's clutches, James sent a platoon of men after the duo, so now, they rest in a semi-clean shower room at a truck stop in some lowly gas station. Thankfully these rooms were private._

 _Damian was actually asleep in the shower part of the restroom while Ben slept on the ground just outside of the shower. Both of them using complimentary towels as pillows. Twigleg was fast asleep on the counter, the body wash cloth over his tiny body like a blanket. Ben couldn't sleep, and judging by the tossing and turning that Damian was doing, neither was he._

 _They've been on the road for about a year now and Damian has dodged almost every single one of Ben's questions about him. Frowning, Ben pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked at the blue haired teen that was still frantically tossing and turning._

 _"Damian?" Ben finally spoke up earning a soft,_

 _"Er?" In response._

 _"Can't sleep?"_

 _"No."_

 _Ben got up and slowly laid down next to Damian. Damian slowly rolled over._

 _"That wasn't an invite, Rider." Damian teased lightly. Ben smiled sadly before resting his head next to Damian's and speaking softly,_

 _"Damian, how did you become a dragon rider?" Ben asked him finally, Damian sucked in a deep breath at the question, but unlike the times before where he would answer with,_

 _'That's really not important now'_

 _Or._

 _'In all honesty, you don't really need to know that.'_

 _He actually started to tell the story._

 _"Well...It's sort of complicated, I'll start from the...Well...Start." Damian sighed and shifted so he was now resting on his shoulder, shaking some of his blue hair out of his face, Damian tapped his fingers as he thought about what to say next, but, in the end, he found his voice,_

 _"My dad's a bit of a hard-ass, I wasn't what he wanted in a son. So after so many fights with him, I just said, 'screw it' and left...I was on my own for a long while. As you know, I know how to live on own when it comes to it. I managed to hitchhike, to different locations and no, I wasn't molested doing so." Damian joked with an awkward laugh. "Then, One day, I was in Scotland, just overlooking the sea, when I heard a loud crash coming from the woods. So, being me, I investigated."_

 _Damian paused and let out a low breath as his eyes looked down at the tiled ground of the shower before continuing, "I found Messiah just laying in the grass like he was the cat, on his back, rolling around. His blue scales shining brightly in the hot Scotland sun...I half expected him to blow me away with his fire the moment he realized I was there watching him. Nope, he just sat up, and looked me in the eyes-"_

 _"Did he talk?" Ben asked interrupting Damian, earning a chuckle, followed by a head push from Damian._

 _"Let me finish, mate. Yes, he talked. Issiah spoke calmly as he gazed into my eyes. I, on the other hand, was not so calm. I remember actually screaming out. He just put his tail gently to my mouth to shut me up. I don't know how, but eventually, we just started to talk to one another, I told him about my father-"_

 _"More than you've told me, apparently." Ben interrupted sarcastically and Damian just pushed his head back once more with another chuckle,_

 _"I'm almost done. We were both almost caught that day, and he told me to hop on, I do so without question and next thing I know, we're in the air and that's how I became a dragon rider."_

 _"And he got taken?"_

 _"Yes. A year later, I think...But there. I answered a question." Without another word, Damian turned so his back was to Ben in an almost bitter fashion. "Now, get some sleep."_

 _Ben sighed and went to get up, but, as quick as lightening, Damian grabbed his arm and pulled him back._

 _"I didn't say leave me, mate. Stay. It's warmer with you here." Damian demanded bitterly._

 _Ben laid back down, now awkward as Damian turned once more. Looking at the shower curtain, Ben frowned as an idea formed, Damian could just use that for warmth as a makeshift blanket._

 _"You know-" Ben started, but this time Damian interrupted him._

 _"Just...Get some sleep."_

* * *

Ben let out a sharp intake of breath, his eyes opened wide as he shot up from where he was laying. Twigleg almost went flying off him due to the sudden movement, thankfully, Ben managed to grab him with his one hand though he did move his stump in response as well, but still.

"Oh, you're up." Came Zenith's voice.

Looking around, Ben saw that he was in the backseat of a car, a moving car at that. This was uncomfortably familiar. Looking up at the rearview mirror, he could see Zenith looking at him, rather unimpressed.

"...Are you going to kill me, now?" Ben finally asked. Placing Twigleg on his shoulder, the Manikin put a hand on his chest after that scare.

"What more do I have to do to prove to you that I am on your side for this? Benjamin. I am Info-guy, I've been helping you and Ivan since the start, have I not? I saved you twice now from the same doctor, and even took a damn bullet for you!"

"WHAT?!" Ben screamed out actually shocked. Zenith sighed softly,

"It's in my leg. Don't worry, I got the bullet out and disinfected the wound."

"How long have I been out?"

"Five hours," Zenith responded without skipping a beat. He focused back on the road and the air between the three of them went awkwardly silent as Ben looked at Twigleg, Twigleg frowned but still gently hugged the side of Ben's face. Ben only chuckled and gently patted Twigleg's head.

"I'm fine...For now..." Ben swallowed hard before finally leaning forward cautiously. Zenith instantly took note, and then took the opportunity,

"I AM on your side, Benjamin. I understand your reasons for not trusting me, but right now, I _need_ you to trust me, please, even just a little. That's all I'm asking for."

Ben couldn't bring himself to reply as he backed up now with a deep intake of breath.

"You trusted info-guy, why am I different?"

"You tried to kill me." Ben didn't skip a beat as he crossed one leg over the other.

"...Good point. But, Info-guy, aka, ME. Has yet to do that. In fact. I believe I've have helped you out a good deal through the whole ordeal. What more do you need to understand that I'm helping you?"

There was a moment of silence as Ben looked around the front of the car, it wasn't Damian's car, Ben knew that the all leather interior told him that and the fact that the car was a stick shift told Ben all he needed to know. The leather seats were all gray and clearly worn down at the leather was cracking in some places. Looking in the front passenger's seat Ben saw a cloth of some sort of bright red velvet cloth. It was laying horizontally in the seat, clearly covering something. Instantly made a move for whatever it was. Only to have Zenith be ten times quicker and slap his hand.

"That's for Atticus. He needs to know I'm on his side as well."

"And whatever it is you're hiding will prove that?" Twigleg questioned, sounding just as skeptic as Ben was on the subject. "So...Why not just show it to us?"

"Because it doesn't affect you two like it would him."

"So...I'll repeat what Twigleg asked, why not just show it to us?" Ben spoke up this time. Zenith let out a slightly irritated sigh before finally just pulling the velvet back, all while still looking at the road.

It was a longsword. An old one at that. The tip rusted slightly but still looked sharp. At first Ben thought it was a just a normal sword until he got the handle. It was black as black could be, it didn't seem worn the slightest even though it was clearly made of leather. Then up at the top of the handle was a silver dragon that wrapped itself halfway down the handle. Narrowing his eyes, Ben studied the silver dragon for a few seconds.

"Wait...That's the same design from that cloak."

"Of course, the cloak was mine as well...Because my memories were kind of screwed up around that time, I didn't recognize it as mine and gave it to you. I'm sure the fireproof cloak might have been helpful to bring on your dragon rescue mission, eh?" Zenith teased Ben, his steel blue eyes sparkling ever so slightly in the mirror.

"A little too soon..." Ben mumbled softly as he looked at his missing arm.

"...You're holding up well, I will admit that much. I expected more of a freak out over...That." Zenith hummed out in thought and Ben just shrugged,

"I'm alive." was all Ben pointed out and Zenith only frowned at that as he looked at Ben in the mirror before focusing on the road. There was a long moment of silence, at least ten minutes or so between the two of them, Zenith not once taking his eyes off of the road, until he heard a soft sniffle from the back seat. Looking in the mirror once more, he saw Ben wiping tears away from his eyes. With a sigh, Zenith reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a small pack of tissues.

"Catch."

With a swift movement, he threw the pack in the back and then shut the glove compartment, there as a moment of silence before he heard a soft,

"Thanks." from the back, followed by a loud nose blow from Ben. Zenith covered his sword back up and continued to drive down the road. With a deep breath in, Zenith hoped Damian and Atticus were alright.

* * *

Honestly, Atticus didn't expect this kind of lock up for him, he should have, but he didn't. As these people actually managed to subdue him long enough to bind him to a stretcher. These people knew what they were doing, that's for sure, as they all rushed at him at once, each person wearing a hazmat suit, making the scene all the creepier to him. He tried to fight them off but being outnumbered, at least, ten to one he found his body slammed on a stretcher. Two people had his hands and arms pinned down on each side of him making it four people holding his arms and hands down. While four other people had his legs pinned. One person had his head in their gloved hands making sure to avoid his mouth as the final person quickly strapped him down to the stretcher. He tried to kick, he tried to fight but to no avail. One strap across his neck, one across his neck, another across his legs. Two handcuffs to the side of the stretcher immobilizing his hands.

"LET ME GO!" He demanded as he still fought against the binds but it didn't work as they started to wheel him away. "ATTICUS!" Guinevere sobbed out loudly. Atticus tried to move his head but the strap across his neck made it difficult. Still, from what he could see out of the corner of his eye, two other hazmats had her as well, but they weren't strapping her down like they did him. Now the two hazmats were dragging her away, one having her arms pinned to her chest while the other person had her by her legs. Granted she kicked in struggled but couldn't free herself.

"Open."

"AH!" Atticus felt his mouth forcefully opened, out of instinct, he bit on the hand as hard as he could. He could taste thick rubber glove in between his teeth, but he couldn't taste any blood. Suddenly something was forced upon his top teeth, then his bottom teeth and the person let go of his mouth. Atticus bit down and instantly hissed out in discomfort once the bitter taste of plastic hit his tongue he also couldn't touch his teeth together anymore, meaning they shoved a mouth guard in his mouth. Probably to stop him from biting people, like he just tried.

"Hey there, Atti." Hearing a familiar voice, Atticus looked up to see Josh hovering over him, he was the only one not wearing a hazmat suit as he kept pace with the others. "You should have killed me, it would have saved your life, I know that." Was all Josh said as he suddenly pulled at Atticus's ponytail and slapped Atticus's head back so hard that the vampire saw stars dance around his vision. "Maybe next time, think." With that, Josh walked forward as did the hazmats. Atticus could still hear Guinevere screaming in the background, it was apparent that they forced a mouth guard in her mouth as well. The smell of blood told Atticus that she already bit someone.

There was a sudden pause where everyone stopped walking, Still, Guinevere was screaming madly as she fought against the people holding her down. A sudden 'beep' rang across the empty hallway and Atticus was pushed forward once more.

"Guinevere!" Looking forward, Atticus could see the Greenblooms locked up in a glass cell, well, not all of the Greenblooms. Guinevere was quickly lead towards the glass prison and the door opened before they could even make a step forward, Guinevere was tossed inside harshly, but, quick as a whip, she was up on her feet and made her way towards the door. It slammed shut before she made it. Hearing a low growl to his left, Atticus turned his head to the best of his abilities only to see a familiar angry silver dragon. The dragon was tied down by metal restraints rendering him immobile, but, he wasn't the only dragon there, right beside Firedrake was a depressed bright blue dragon. One that Atticus recognized as the one in Damian's phone. This dragon showed no emotion compared to Firedrake's clear anger as the dragon glared Josh down.

Atticus turned to see Josh standing over him, the man glowering at him bitterly.

"you've seesn batter das" Atticus spoke, the mouth guard making his speech horribly garbled. Josh reached up and retracted both guards out of his mouth.

"What was that?"

Swallowing hard, Atticus licked his teeth out of instinct and then spoke back up, "You've seen better days." Atticus chuckled.

"Yeah well-" With no warning Josh grabbed Atticus's face, his hand squeezing Atticus's cheeks making his jaws open involuntarily as Josh suddenly applied awful pressure to Atticus's jaw. "-That's thanks to you, isn't it?" Josh snarled out bitterly to Atticus keeping the pressure on Atticus's jaw. Honestly, Atticus wondered if Josh was trying to break his jaw, if that was so, then Josh was dumber than Atticus originally thought.

"Damian, please!" Atticus heard the Professor beg for him, that was something new the prof. caring for him, that also showed one more thing, they couldn't tell the difference between the twins.

Josh let go of Atticus's jaw almost instantly and turned his back to the vampire, making Atticus confused, but still, he took the opportunity all the same.

"That's not Damian! That's his twin brother! Don't worry, I got confused as well. He's almost convincing." Atticus told them sharply with a chuckle, his chuckle quickly got caught in his throat when something horrible struck him. Josh still had his back turned and seemed to be putting on a hazmat suit of his own.

"...Uh...I don't mean to change the mood here, but...Why am I the only one strapped to a stretcher?" Atticus questioned as he did his best to look at them. Just then a loud whirling caught his attention turning back to Josh, the teen was suited up, from his head to this how feet in a white hazmat suit, a clear cover for his eyes so Atticus could see him and he could see Atticus. In his gloved hand, there was a small medical saw.

"You see, it's my job to kill you. I've decided to take a few liberties in doing so, my father agrees, seeing how you came quietly."

"Well, that's an odd way of doing it Isn't normally, if you come quietly then you'll get a quick death? Not the other way around?" Atticus questioned and Josh just chuckled and whirled up the saw once more.

"Buying time isn't going to work on me. Let's take a look at those insides."

Atticus instantly started to struggle against the bonds holding him down. "Get away from me!" Atticus snarled out as Josh got closer and closer to him with the drill.

"Stop! OH MY GOD!" Guinevere shrieked in panic, Atticus could just see her covering her eyes in fear. Atticus was glad the littlest Greenbloom wasn't here to see this. Atticus struggled and struggled, he could feel the heat of the whirling drill getting closer and closer to his chest. he guessed Josh was just going to cut his clothes later. Atticus could only shut his eyes once the blade got too close for comfort, however, he was saved by an intern.

"Mr. Joshua!" A young man burst in through the room, the man honestly matched Ben's height and weight to a T. It seemed like an odd detail to Atticus.

Josh shut the saw off and slammed it down,

"YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO INTERRUPT ME WHEN I'M BUSY!" Josh roared out furiously making Atticus cringe at the volume of his voice.

"I apologize! But your father wishes to see you right away. He says 'It's time'." The intern breathed out heavily as he kept his gaze down and away from Josh's. Josh ripped his mask off with a bitter huff and slammed the drill down. He then pulled his hazmat suit off and stormed forward.

"You live, for now, Vampire." Josh seethed as he angrily slammed the door shut behind him. Atticus let out a soft sigh as he let his head rest against the back of the stretcher.

"So, it's nice to see you again Firedrake." Atticus chuckled as he breathed in and out heavily if his heart would have been beating it would have been pounding. He needed to get out of these restraints, but no matter how he kicked his feet or moved his hands to the best of his abilities, nothing happened. That was until he heard a soft rustle behind him.

"Did one of you get out?" He questioned the Greenblooms. Nope, they were there. Barnabas then confirmed it by adding,

"No...We're all still in here."

"Ok, just hang tight, once I get out-" There it was again, cutting him off, a soft rustle, he knew he wasn't alone is hearing it as Issiah's ears perked up ever so lightly. Going quiet, Atticus closed his eyes as he listened for the noise once more, not hearing it, he opened his eyes only to get the shock of his life.

Sorrel was above him, her head tilted to the side as she looked at him.

"SORREL! YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Vita happily yelled out but was ignored as Atticus spoke up.

"How?...What?...Were you hiding the whole time?"

"Yeah.

"...No comment. Can you undo my straps?"

"I believe I can, I have to be quick, though, I don't know why but every time I show myself those humans come storming in minutes later."

Atticus scanned around the ceiling for a second, his eyes scanning every inch of the ceiling until he spotted it, a camera pointing directly at them.

"Yeah, I think I've figured out why...How have you avoided them?"

"I can hear them, humans are so loud, I keep hidden in this small crawl space in the wall." Sorrel grabbed the strap around Atticus's neck and slowly undid it, the moment it was free Atticus jerked his head upwards. Enjoying the freedom in his neck. However, his enjoyment didn't last long as suddenly the lights went out and red lights came on.

"That's...Not good. Hide." He told Sorrel who turned and ran back to her crawlspace. Atticus laid back straight listened, there was no alarm, just red lights which were honestly rather odd. Narrowing his eyes, Atticus couldn't hear people approaching, still, there was part of his mind bugging him,

He didn't know how, and he didn't know why.

But this was clearly Ben's doing.

* * *

"We have five minutes," Zenith warned him as Ben flipped all the breakers to the outside of the building. A security guard by their feet unconscious by a simple blow to the head, his key card in Ben's pants pocket as Ben just continued to flip every breaker he could find.

"How big is this building!?" Ben demanded as he was still flipping breakers.

"Hang on, let me make it easier," Zenith spoke up as he now hovered over Ben, Ben watched as he took out a small knife and put it to the wires.

"Wai-"

There was a loud pop and a sudden bright spark from the wires, Ben quickly covered his head and made sure Twigleg was covered as well. Looking up, he expected to see Zenith dead or at least fazed with a burnt hand. Nope, he was standing upright the wires now cut and only the blade to the knife burnt.

"How are you not dead?" Ben asked.

Zenith smirked and showed Ben his gloved hands, honestly Ben never noticed Zenith's attire before now. His hands were gloved in black, but the rest of him was normal, blue jeans, black boots, and a black long sleeved shirt that made his white hair stand out greatly.

"These gloves are made of the same fabric that my cloak is made of," Zenith smirked as he wiggled his fingers at Ben.

"That was electricity, you still should have been shocked to hell and back over that."

"I know, you'd be surprised how much this fabric can resist."

"How did you even get fabric like that? Are you from the 1400's correct? Fabric like that must have been specially made and cost an arm and a leg!" Twigleg exclaimed out and Zenith gave a smile before chuckling weakly.

"Let's say, the real Zenith knew just where to go to get what he wanted." Was all Zenith said as he looked at the time on his phone. "We have to go!" Grabbing Ben's wrist, Zenith turned and ran around the corner dragging Ben with him.

"They probably noticed the power outage by now. We must be fast!"

"Well wait, if the powers out now then we can just go in right?"

"No! Ben the power to a majority of the building is out, yes, but James is no moron. He probably has either a generator or a separate breaker for the major things like doors and cameras."

"Alright, if that's the case then what's the plan when we go in? I only have one arm, I'm sure _this_ rather noticeable on camera!" Ben bluntly pointed out as he wiggled his nub a bit to prove his point. Twigleg looked up at Zenith clearly wanting an answer as well. Zenith seemed to be thinking for a few seconds before just shrugging.

"Welp. Good point. Alright." With no warning, Zenith opened the door with the keycard in Ben's hand. "Start running!" Ben was then pushed in, turning around, Ben only watched as the door slammed shut.

"Zenith!"

"Don't worry! I'll meet up with you! Just be careful and remember this. Left, Up, left, right."

"Does that lead to Firedrake?"

"Just follow those instructions. Remember! Left, up, left, right! Super easy! Again, I'll catch up to you!"

Ben only stood there, shocked, mouth agape as him and Twigleg just shared a horrified look together before turning back to the closed door.

"...I'm...Going to kill him." Ben growled out as he turned and sighed out softly, throwing his one arm up in defeat, he just walked forward. "Alright! I guess we're doing this now!" Ben mumbled as he quickly picked up the pace, cautiously looking over his shoulder making sure he wasn't being followed. The hallway was long, uncomfortably long, going from a brisk walk to a jog, Ben breathed out heavily as looked for the first intersection leading to the left. Going from a jog to a full-on run at this point, Ben finally saw it, the first hallway going left, turning quickly Ben quickly skidded to a halt as he literally ran into someone, causing the two of them to fall back.

Thinking quickly Ben pulled out his tiny pocket knife and aimed it at the stranger.

"Sorrel!" Ben and Twigleg both yelled out at the Brownie. Sorrel blinked and quickly ran up and hugged Ben.

"Fools mushroom! Ben! Your arm! Where is it?!" She cried out horrified, as she suddenly grasped the empty fabric to Ben's long sleeve.

"Yeah. Look, don't focus on that for now." Getting to one knee so the two of them were eye and eye, Ben honestly had to admit, he never thought he'd live to be taller than Sorrel, it was honestly so bizarre to him it made him pause for a heartbeat before finally finding his voice. He could see her eyes going back to his empty sleeve, and slowly she went back to touching the sleeve of his arm would magically grow back if she kept doing it.

"Sorrel." Putting his hand on hers, he brought her hand down and away from his empty sleeve. "What do you know? Is Firedrake safe? My family?"

Hearing Firedrake's name must have brought Sorrel back to reality because she snapped her gaze back to him.

"They have Firedrake locked in these large metal arms! I can't get them undone no matter how hard I try!"

Ben's mind went to the horrifying state Kuriana was in before her death almost instantly.

"Is he alive?"

"Yes, they haven't touched him. They won't, they're waiting for something, I don't know what." Sorrel ending in almost a whisper.

"Lead me to him," Ben said almost instantly.

"Master, that isn't wise, he's probably heavily guarded." Twigleg was quick to point out, Ben only shook his head.

"I've made up my mind. Firedrake is the first priority, that's something Ivan always told me, the dragons come first." Ben stubbornly spoke as he looked around cautiously, once he was sure the coast was clear for now, he looked at Sorrel.

"Alright I can't believe I'm saying this, but, Sorrel, lead the way."

* * *

Damian let out a loud cry as he finally managed to reach an arm just enough above his head to wiggle it up and over. Grabbing the buckle with his teeth he managed to free his dominate hand. Spitting the buckle out he used his free hand to unbuckle his other hand. Now with both hands-free, he got to work on the other buckles on the jacket. Only seconds later, he threw the godforsaken straightjacket onto the ground below him. Running to the door, Damian grabbed the handle with his hands, only to discover the door was locked.

"Son of a..." Damian snarled, of course, the door would be locked. Leaning against the door, he only knocked his head against it lightly several times in slight defeat. Now what?

What he didn't expect was for someone to suddenly knock back on the other side cautiously. Jumping back, Damian frowned. There was no window or peephole so he couldn't see who was on the other side. Making sure he wasn't going absolutely insane, Damian softly rasped against the door with his knuckles twice, there was a pause, and then he got two knocks back.

"Who's there?" Damian asked cautiously.

"...Theodore."

Feeling his brow furrow, Damian racked his memory for a Theodore that he might know. He doubt the guy on the other side was a chipmunk, so, without thinking he replied,

"Theodore who?"

"Theodore is unlocked now!"

Damian only stood there dumbfounded for a few moments mouth open in slight shock, Did...Did he just fall for a knock, knock joke? Still, reaching over to the knob, he turned it and it opened. Slowly pushing the door open to see the stranger on the other side.

"Who are you?" Damian asked the stranger, the man only smiled at him.

"C'mon now, Ivan, it's me."

"...Finch?"

"Oh god, that name, I haven't heard that in a long while. But please, call me Zenith from now on."

* * *

Ben honestly didn't like the idea of crawling through a wall to get to Firedrake, but, at least his arm wasn't an issue anymore, he just had to be careful with the stitches. Shimming down with Sorrel, Twigleg hiding on his neck, Ben had to be careful not the smush his friend as he shifted a bit in the cramped space. Hearing his breathing in his own ears, Ben could feel his hot breath making the air humid around them all as he breathed out heavily once more.

"Here." Sorrel breathed out showing Ben the false panel. Getting so close to her he could smell the various mushrooms off of her fur, Ben gently pushed the panel back a bit to peek inside the room. He could hardly make out Firedrake being tied up by metal arms, he saw a bright blue dragon next to Firedrake and instantly Ben thought of Issiah. Moving past them as much as he could, he could see Atticus tied to a stretcher, the green hair was a dead giveaway. A large metal cabinet with glass doors blocked his view from what else was in the room, but he knew Guinevere was in there by her panicked whispers, so that meant that the other Greenblooms were in there as well.

Ben almost removed the fake panel completely so he could get to his friends but paused when the sound of the door opening caught his attention. Instantly he tensed when he thought Damian had waltzed on in but caught himself when he realized it was Josh, not Damian. Sucking in a deep breath, Ben narrowed his eyes as he looked at Twigleg. The homunculus tugging on his ear for attention.

"Master? Isn't that Damian?" Twigleg asked him in a hushed whisper.

"No. Turns out Damian has a twin...What is he doing?"

They all watched as Josh started to put, what seemed to be, a hazmat suit. Josh was speaking to Atticus who now started to struggle more and against his restraints. Ben didn't move, not until Josh pulled out a medical saw and turned it on.

"Sorrel. You're going to want to run." Ben simply told her as he placed Twigleg on her shoulder.

"What are you-" Before she could finish her question, Ben kicked the false panel out, causing it to clatter on the ground and echo around the room. Instantly Josh looked up at the noise and turned the saw off.

"Go," Ben demanded as he hopped out of the wall. Sure enough, Josh was practically jogging over towards the source of the noise, grabbing the panel, Ben held his breath. Josh got closer and Ben acted.

Swinging the panel out, there was a satisfying 'thwack!' that followed as Josh suddenly fell back onto his back and clutched his face. Honestly, he had no clue how he managed to do that with only one arm, still, Ben couldn't think on that as he grabbed Josh by the collar.

Josh was still on his back and he smirked at Ben. Before Ben could question him, both of Josh's feet made contact with Ben's stomach, hard knocking the wind out of Ben almost instantly. Still not done, Josh used momentum to flip Ben off of him.

Ben flipped and landed on his back hard enough for him to grimace. Josh got up and dusted himself off. Ben tried to turn so he could push himself up, however, Josh wasn't done with him. A sudden kick to the head was enough for Ben to fall back down and see stars dance in his vision.

"Well, isn't this interesting." Josh tsked as he circled around Ben, ignoring Firedrake's snarls, Ben looked up just enough to see the dragon's eyes filled to the brim with anger, clearly daring Josh to do something like that again. And that's just what Josh did as Ben tried, once again, to stand.

Ben's only arm was kicked out from under him, causing him to slam his face into the ground. Crying out. Ben tasted blood from his now busted lower lip. Ben could hear Firedrake struggle against the metal arms holding him down. It seemed like Josh was going to kick him again, but with no warning, the man cried out. Taking the chance, Ben pushed himself up and looked, Josh was clearly trying to get something out of his hair but it was stuck in there good.

Ben growled and used his leg to sweep Josh's own legs out from under him, causing the other to fall to his knees. Giving Ben enough time to stand. Josh stood up and the two stared at each other, Ben could see a clump of plaster stuck to Josh's hair, Sorrel really did have good aim.

Josh then unzipped his white suit and threw it off to the side. Clearly showing that this was about to get bloody.

"Sorry about the strip show, but that suit stops me from pulling out my knife, which I'm going to need. Because I'm going to gut you." Josh snarled as he pulled out a rather large knife from his pocket. Josh then rushed at Ben and slashed. Ben was quick enough to just barely move out of the way of the knife and grabbed Josh's arm twisting it backward as far as his one arm would allow him to do so. Josh grabbed the back of Ben's head and pulled his hair forcing Ben's head back, as Josh forced his arm out of Ben's grasp and tried to slash again. Ben just hardly managed to move his head out of the way as Josh nicked his neck with the sharp blade. Ben felt Josh's grip tighten on his hair keeping his head pulled back exposing his neck. Ben knew what he was going to wasn't going to be pretty, but wanting to see tomorrow, he had no choice. Bringing a leg up fast and hard, he kicked Josh as hard as he could in between the legs. He knew it must have hurt, not only because Josh let go of him but because he could hear Atticus and the Professor both groaning as Josh let out a loud squeak. Throwing a punch to the side of Josh's face, fell to the ground.

Ben let out a low breath as he put a hand over his heart, trying to calm his breathing as he walked over Josh towards Firedrake's cage. Slowly, Sorrel emerged, Twigleg on her shoulder. The two just watched as Ben seemed to be looking for something along the cage.

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you out..." Ben told Firedrake softly as he looked around the room now. "Ah!" Ben spoke as he saw a red button on the wall covered by a glass case. Walking passed Josh again, Ben felt his ankle suddenly being grabbed and he was tripped to the ground. Falling on his shoulder, Ben yelled out when he was harshly pulled under Josh.

Josh went for a punch but Ben learned from last time and kicked him off of him, only he didn't kick Josh over him, he just kicked Josh off. Josh fell back into the metal cabinet, the glass wobbled but didn't break, thank goodness. Ben watched as he stood, knife back in his hand. Getting to his own feet, Ben narrowed his eyes as the two of them stared one another down. Then there was a flash of something and Josh took a startled step back as another piece of plaster was stuck his scalp. Ben saw the opportunity and grabbed Josh. Josh grabbed Ben by his own shirt and in one quick movement, the two of them were smashed into the cabinet once more, both of them trying to throw the other. They fell to their knees as they did so.

The glass shattered as the whole cabinet wobbled this time. Ben covered his head in instinct as the glass covered him. Josh let out a loud cry, Ben only looked at him for a second, shards of glass in his left eye, causing heavy bleeding from his eye on the other's part. Hearing a loud creaking noise, Ben looked up to see the heavy cabinet coming down towards him. Thinking quickly he ducked and rolled out of the way embedding glass in his bare palm as he did so. The cabinet came down hard, causing more glass to smash around him. Once more, he covered his face until he was sure it was safe. All was deathly silent, nobody spoke a word as the air around him became tense. Ben didn't look up just yet as he tried to catch his breath. He just looked down at his bleeding palm.

"...Holy shit..." He heard Atticus breath out finally breaking the silence. Causing Ben to finally look up towards the fallen cabinet. Putting his bleeding hand to his face in shock, Ben fell back on his behind as he looked at the horrifying scene in front of him.

Whereas Ben had time to jump out of the way, it seemed that Josh didn't. Pinned under the metal cabinet, Ben could see that Josh had actually tried but was too slow, a part of Ben actually wanted Josh to be alive, but, he knew that the odds were...slim as the sharp edge of the cabinet had landed on Josh's windpipe pinning him to the floor. Still. Ben never wanted to give up that hope. Instantly he went to pick up the metal, but, being half-starved, weak, fresh out of a fight AND surgery he misunderstood his strength at the moment. Breathing out weakly, Ben only gave up and put his hand to his mouth in shock. He looked back at Sorrel and Twigleg, both equally shocked at what was in front of them.

Hearing a sudden noise from Atticus, Ben turned to look at his friend, Atticus struggling against his bonds, it seemed like he managed to get free enough for him to bite at restraints around his wrist. Leaving Josh there, for now, Ben jogged over and quickly freed his friend. Atticus jumped up and ran over to Josh. While Atticus tried to lift the cabinet up, Ben paused as he looked up at the only camera in the room and narrowed his eyes, this was a little too easy, something wasn't right.

* * *

Oliver curled under the desk, rocking horribly back and forth, trying so hard not to cry. He was a grown man, dammit, he can't try! So what if there was a large bird of prey waiting to make Oliver it's next meal, that was no reason to cry.

Biting his lip, Oliver slowly slipped towards the edge of the dresser and peeked out from behind it. The bird let out a loud battle cry and Oliver quickly went back to hiding as he shook violently. There was a suddenly 'whoosh' and Oliver watched in horror as the desk was suddenly lifted up and tossed into the side of the room like it was nothing. The bird landed in front of Oliver and just stared at him blankly. Oliver slowly opened his mouth, unsure of what to do, there was nothing to come out of his mouth at first as he just gawked at the bird.

The bird then tilted it's head to him and with no warning let out the loudest squawk Oliver ever heard before in his life. Clasping his hands over his ears, Oliver hurriedly got to his feet and tried to run. The bird gave chase, it didn't fly, it literally chased him down on its feet.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Oliver screamed out as he ran cowardly away from the large bird as fast as he could. Throwing all dignity away, Oliver threw his arms up and shrieked out loudly as he ran as fast as his legs would allow him. The bird picked up speed and was so close to Oliver that Oliver could feel the beak peck at his hair causing him to pick up the pace.

"Oliver!" Hearing a voice, Oliver turned and ran towards it without a second thought. Seeing the door wide open, Oliver jumped through the door and clutched his chest as whoever saved him shut the door just in time. There was a loud bang followed by a squawk of pain on the other side. Oliver breathed out heavily and rolled onto his back, clutching his heart with one hand while running fingers through his hair with his other hand.

Looking up to see who saved him, Oliver swallowed hard and put his hand to his chest, "Thank you. Oliver Pearson, you are?" Oliver asked as he stood up to shake his savior's hand. The man only smiled,

"Call me, Zenith."

"Oh, dear god."

* * *

James' eyes were trained on Josh. Watching as Ben pressed the button to free the dragon's but not his family, no, those buttons were on the outside of the cells his family was in.

Clenching his fists in rage, his breath became deep, angry, and ragged. Turning his eyes towards the other monitors in front of him, his eyes landed on Oliver. James was no fool, that man was Zenith in disguise. He had to be. To vanish and come back the way he did? No. James knew who he was and he had to pay for his betrayal! Slamming his hands down on his desk, James felt a vein pop up on his forehead as he had a large snarl on his lips. Feeling something wet and cold hit his hand, James looked down to see his coffee spilled onto his hand, mug on its side.

Speaking of son's, he turned to the locked door and looked in, Jackson was sitting there, drawing while sipping some apple juice.

Sighing out, James straightened himself up and slowly undid his tie. Looking around for a paper towel or napkin, he found a bunch of napkins in a fast-food bag, he silently wiped the coffee up. His eyes trained on his son once more, he didn't cry, or weep, or sob. He just numbly stood there watching as the vampire had the _audacity_ to hold his son. Josh in the vampire's arms as the man was checking for a pulse. Intrigued, James noted how both dragons leaned down to look at Josh.

James felt his nose scrunch in anger. Finally, James reached into a drawer and pulled out a glock. Looking at it, James looked back to the monitor, now Benjamin was standing next to Josh, hand over his mouth. Bastard sure knew how to act. He went to turn, ready to storm into the room holding Jackson, and start firing, but he was suddenly thrown back into the monitors by a mysterious force. Hearing the monitors hit the ground behind him as James felt his leg hit the table just at his knee, causing pain to erupt from his knee up. Crying out, James instinctively dropped the gun as he clutched his knee.

His collar was grabbed and he was tossed off of the table, stumbling, he hit the wall harshly. His nose now bleeding, he clutched it and looked at his attacker.

"So...This how it's going to be?" James asked the man.

Slowly, the other brought his fists up and cracked his knuckles loudly. Before James could respond, his collar was grabbed and he was punched three times in a row on his left cheek. Crying out, James landed on his knees and spat out a bloody tooth on the ground. Before he could do anything else his collar was grabbed and he was lifted up to the windowsill and jumped once he realized the window was open. Using his feet he tried to kick the offender off of him, but it made no difference as the other managed to push him out far enough so he was now almost upside down, forced to look at the ground that was far down below causing him to look up at the person. Just hardly able to see a monitor inside the building, he could make out Ben and looked up at his attacker,

"¿Para él?" (For him?) James asked softly his voice actually cracking. Waiting for the reply, James slowly looked up at the sky, the night sky completely black, not a star in site, only the full moon that hung graciously over him and lit up the sky.

"Sí." Was what he got in reply before his jacket was suddenly let go and he was falling. He didn't scream, he didn't cry, he only looked up at the moon as he brutally hit the ground.

* * *

"Firedrake, you have to go." Ben told the stubborn silver dragon as he pushed his face towards the open window.

"No, not without you! I'm not losing you again, Ben!" Firedrake snarled. Meanwhile, Sorrel sat on his back, unsure of just what to say at the moment. Ben tried again to push his face out the window, only to have Firedrake move his head up, causing Ben to crash on the ground.

"Firedrake, why are you being so stubborn?" Ben asked as he stood and wiped himself off. "Issiah left without issue, why can't you?"

"Because Issiah clearly is detached from his rider at this point! Ben...You are missing a limb. I can't...I can't leave you like this." Firedrake told him softly as he nuzzled Ben's stomach.

"And I can't leave them. Firedrake." Ben gestured to the Greenblooms still locked up. "Look, there's a field over there." Ben pointed towards the large field where Issiah was laying in the field.

"Wait for us. Ok? We can talk more there. But now we have to get you guys out. Please." Ben begged softly. Firedrake sighed out and nuzzles Ben's stomach.

"I don't want to lose you."

"You won't. Please, go, be safe." Ben urged him once more and Firedrake sighed out once more.

"Very well. I'll wait for you."

With that, Firedrake spread his wings and flew off towards the field as fast as he could. Ben turned towards the prison his family was kept in and started to search.

"Where is it!" Ben growled as he searched for the button to free the Greenblooms. Circling their prison, he finally found it just on the outside. "Ah!" About to push it, he paused when he heard a sudden yell.

"Mummy!" Turning, he saw Damian come bolting in clearly trying to chase down Jackson, underestimating how fast three years really can be. Ben stopped and rushed over towards them. Mainly to stop Jackson from tripping over Josh's body. Stopping Jackson just at Josh's, covered, the body he allowed the child to cling to his neck so he could pick up.

Josh's face was covered by Atticus's jacket that he had given to Ben earlier, so, nobody could see the face. Still, watching Damian's face as he looked down at his brothers, obvious, corpse. Ben made sure Jackson was facing the other way as he held on to him.

"It was an accident..." Ben started softly. Damian pulled jacket back and sighed out.

"...Poor bastard..." Damian breathed out, Ben watched as he reached down and it seemed like hold his twin's hand one last time. He then brought his hand back up and covered his twin up one last time. Atticus came up a moment later with Twigleg.

"Hey, kiddo." Atticus greeted Jackson, who just snuggled himself closer to Ben's neck.

"He's unharmed, thank god. Found him locked up. I don't know why he separated them." Damian mumbled softly as he stood and gently covered his twin's face once more.

"Oh! Here, Let me let them out." Handing Jackson to Atticus, the child let out a loud whine and actually struggled against Atticus's grip.

"Nope! Nope! He doesn't like me!" Atticus yelled as he held Jackson at arm's length. Jackson tried to kick at Atticus only to have Ben sweep in and grab the toddler.

"The button is on the left," Ben told him as he held on to Jackson. Atticus nodded and went to help them, much to their relief. Before he could push the button, Zenith and Oliver came waltzing in.

"Oliver!" Ben yelled out relieved, Oliver came running up and hugged Ben, with Jackson in the middle of them.

"Your arm!" Oliver exclaimed.

Hearing a growl next to him, Ben only saw a flash and next thing he knew Atticus had lunged at Zenith, snarling out violently as he grabbed the clone's collar and tossed him halfway across the room.

Giving Jackson to Oliver, Ben rushed over to stop them along with Damian. Ben grabbed Atticus while Damian grabbed Zenith and they pushed the two back.

"Easy! Easy!" Ben yelled to Atticus while he continued to try and attack him.

"How the hell are you even alive!?" Atticus demanded as he tried to get out of Ben's grip.

"It's a complicated story, please, Atticus, I'm on your side!" The clone tried to reason but wasn't having it.

"Atticus, I love you, and I'm sorry, but JESUS CHRIST! GOD!" Ben screamed and Atticus tensed up horribly like he was having a seizure standing up. "Our father in heaven holy is your name-"

"ENOUGH!" Atticus shrieked out to Ben as he continued to shake while standing up.

"Sorry. Sorry. Don't hate me. I had to get you to stop." Ben explained as he let go allowing Atticus to fall on his butt. Zenith let out a sigh and walked up to him.

"To prove I'm on your side." Zenith simply said as he thrust the velvet covered sword towards him. Atticus groaned in pain as he rubbed his behind before grabbing the velvet unsure of what he was taking. Slowly Atticus uncovered it and his eyes grew wide at the sword.

"No...How did you?..." Atticus looked down at the sword and sighed out. Before giving it back to the clone.

"Keep it."

"How can I be sure you're truly on our side." Atticus bitterly questioned as he held the sword close.

"Ben." Zenith gestured to Ben, who just nodded.

"He saved me, Atti...Twice! Please, he's good now. He's info-guy."

There was a moment of silence before Atticus stood.

"Alright...But I have my eye on you."

Hearing a knock, everyone turned to see Barnabas clearly waving, waiting to be out with the rest of the Greenblooms.

"Oh sorry!" Ben yelled as he rushed over to help them out.

"I got it. Ben just wait for them." Zenith ordered as he walked passed Ben. Ben, Oliver, and Atticus just looked at one another. Damian stood in front of them and sighed out softly. The door opened and Jackson squirmed out of Oliver's grip to run to Vita. While still in their cell the Greenblooms all hugged Jackson happily. Ben ran in to be part of the group hug, leaving Atticus and Oliver standing there awkwardly standing there watching the hug. Suddenly, both felt a hand on their back and were shoved in. There the door was closed, locking them all in.

"Damian! What are you doing?!" Ben asked as he rushed over to the door.

"Traitor! I can't believe I fell for your lies!" Atticus snarled to Zenith.

Damian only sighed out and gently clipped a name tag to his shirt.

"Ben, you are aware this is no way out of this without one of us looking horrible right?" Damian asked as Ben read the nametag.

"Why are you...Posing as your twin?" Ben asked once the nametag was read.

"Because of Ben. I can't keep dragging you down with me." Damian clutched his chest painfully.

"What do you mean? You never dragged me down, Damian, I came with you on my own free will you know this!" Ben fought back. Zenith frowned as Damian just nodded at him.

"If you're sure." Was all Zenith said before walking off towards the other prison. He stepped in and Damian shut it.

"Damian...What are you doing?" Ben teared up as Damian only smiled.

Walking over to the glass case, Damian gently put his hand on the glass as Ben did the same.

"It's Ivan, you know this...You've done so much for me...It's only fair I do something for you. Thank you for saving Issiah, and thank you for saving my life. Now it's my turn." Damian turned and backed away from the glass. "I'd hide Twigleg." He told them. Atticus scooped down and tucked the homunculus away into his coat pocket.

"Da...Ivan...What did you do?" Ben asked. Slowly, Ivan got down to his knees, hands up in the air.

"I called the cops." Damian finally admitted. As soon as those words left his mouth, there was a 'ding' and the door was opened. At least ten cops came rushing in all had guns out as Ivan just had his hands up clearly in a surrender.

"Name!" A cop demanded.

"Joshua Newlands!" Ivan responded back, another officer quickly went to the corpse on the ground and pulled the jacket off.

"Jesus Christ..." One man breathed out, causing Atticus to cringe slightly.

"It was an accident." Ivan softly explained as the officers forced him up to his feet and handcuffed him.

After that everything just felt like a blur to Ben, they took pictures of Josh's body, questioned all of them. Everyone had to lie, absolutely everyone. Somehow by some miracle they all managed to come up with the same lie on the spot.

They were kidnapped for testing, Ivan was killed by a falling cabinet, Joshua called the cops upset over his brother's death...And father's suicide. But, then Ben heard Ivan's false story.

"My brother forced the other Greenbloom with him, forced him to steal from all those people. It was never his fault."

When questioned about all the things he stole over the last three years. Ben just looked at Ivan, who nodded at him, Ben then looked at his family, none of them could look at him back.

"...He, D...Ivan...Forced me to help him." Ben lied painfully. Everyone was escorted outside. From there, Ivan was put in the back of a car, he gave Ben a bit of a small smile before being driven off.

"Do you guys need a ride home. I'm sure it's been a rough few days for all of you." An officer offered.

"Yes please!" Almost everyone said at once.

"No..." Ben squeaked out softly, causing everyone to look at him. Zenith then let out a loud cough that sounded a lot like,

Dragon!

"Er, right. He needs to stay! Don't worry. I'll stay with him! There's still something he has to do." Atticus said as he put his hands on Ben's shoulders.

"Alright...Well anyone who wants a ride, follow me then."

* * *

Ben sighed as he ran up and hugged Firedrake sniffling loudly.

"I'm glad you're ok." Firedrake practically purred as he rubbed against Ben's missing arm.

"Issiah, I'm so sorry, Ivan turned himself in..." Ben explained to the bright blue dragon. Issiah only blinked and slowly lowered himself to the ground.

"Can you explain that to me? I don't know much on your human terms." Issiah finally spoke. Ben was taken back by how smooth and deep his voice actually was. Still, with a sniffle, Ben wiped his eyes and spoke,

"He gave himself up to the cops so I could be..." Ben was unsure of what to say next.

"Free." Atticus finished as a breeze passed by the two of them. "Ivan wanted you to be free and safe. That's why he took the blame, it's also why he...Ahem...'killed himself' In that aspect and took the place of his twin."

"But they'll know he was lying! With finger prints scanning-" Ben started in a panic and Atticus put his hand up, silencing his friend.

"Ben. Think about it, do you really think they'll have him and his twin's fingerprints in the database here in the UK? No. I don't think so." Atticus explained softly. "I only know this because I was in America for a short time. I got arrested but they didn't have my fingerprints. So please, stop panicking." Ben held on to Firedrake tighter who nuzzled him softly. Issiah eyed Atticus cautiously.

"Now what's going to happen? Ben? I ask this because I am concerned for your safety with the humans from now on."

"...I don't know..." Ben admitted as he sniffled softly once more.

"Come with us! Live in the rim! You'll be safer there!" Sorrel spoke from Firedrake's back.

"She is right. You could stay with us. You only have one arm, the other dragons and brownies would protect you." Firedrake spoke softly.

"What is this 'rim' you guys speak of?" Issiah questioned softly.

"A valley of dragons up in the mountains. It's called the rim of heaven, because its a safe haven for dragons."

Ben explained softly to Issiah, instantly his ears perked up.

"Really? If it's not too much, could I accompany you guys back? I have no rider anymore and no where to go."

"I would be honored to have you accompany me, Issiah." Firedrake told him gently. Ben looked over at Atticus, who had a noticeable frown on his face. Ben sniffled and wiped his eyes softly.

"As honored as I am that you want me to live you Firedrake. I'm afraid I must turn you down once more. I can't leave them now. Not after everything that's happened." Ben admitted the idea of leaving the Greenblooms after causing them to be taken in the first place sent shivers down his spine.

"You've grown," Firedrake observed softly before nuzzling Ben one last time. "If you won't come with me, then, I shall visit you as often as I can from now on."

"Firedrake-" Ben started but Firedrake silenced him with a simple push back.

"No. No matter what you say, I won't listen."

"...Firedrake, you don't know where we live, we live in a pretty crowded place-"

Once more he pushed back slightly, cutting him off.

"Don't bother, he's a dragon, his mind is made up, they're stubborn that way." Sorrel chuckled softly as she crossed her legs on Firedrake's back.

"I will find a way, we, will find away, Ben. How about this. At the start of every three months. We meet here. In this spot."

"Firedrake...I'd like nothing more than that." Ben smiled at him as he gently ran his hand up Firedrake's scales. Gently Ben hugged him once more. "I have to go now..." He breathed out softly as he held Firedrake's face close to his chest.

"I will see you in three months!" Firedrake softly told him as Ben sadly backed away. Atticus put a hand on his shoulder gently.

"Goodbye, Firedrake. I'm glad you made it out safe." Atticus spoke softly a sad smile on his face. Ben only brought his hand up and gently touched Atticus's cold hand.

"Goodbye, Firedrake." Ben smiled weakly. Firedrake looked at Issiah, who just nodded back,

"Goodbye, I shall see you soon." Unfolding his wings, the two of them simply made one powerful push-up and soon they were in the air. Watching Firedrake circle around lightly, Ben only sighed.

"So, why did you choose to stay? I think there's something more than 'You can't leave the Greenblooms now'" Atticus asked as he leaned against Ben's shoulder. Instantly Ben let out a bitter 'hmph' in response to that.

"That is the reason, Atti."

"I'm one of your best friends. You don't have to lie to me. Let me guess. His name starts with I-"

"I'm leaving." Ben flatly put as he turned and walked away, his face now red.

"Ha! C'mon Ben, don't be shy about it!"

"Don't push it!" Ben yelled back as Atticus chased him down. His face turning even more red as he tried to not show his emotions.

"This is just precious! I can't believe I ever see the day you'd have a crush on-"

"OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN-"

"ASS!" Atticus fell over as Ben started the prayer.

"I told you not to push it!"

Hearing a chuckle, Ben turned to see Zenith coming up to the two of them. Zenith only looked down at Atticus and laughed softly.

"Pushed him, eh? Oh, Orrick, you're still a fourteen-year-old in a man's body I see." Zenith just shook his head and turned to Ben.

"That does push me to ask, if you knew prayer could stun him, how come you never used it when he harmed you after Kuriana's death?"

Atticus blinked as he stood to dust himself off. "That...Is a good question. How come, Ben?"

Ben just gave his friend a smile before sighing. "Because you were in distress at the time. I had already tried to drug you and If I would have stunned you it would have made things even worse." Ben explained softly, he then looked over at the night sky, the inky blackness honestly just made his shudder as all he could see now was the moon. Still, he turned back to the duo behind him and smiled brightly.

"Lets go home!"

* * *

One whole month went by and life seemed to almost return to normal, almost. Ben now had a prosthetic plastic arm that hooked to his nub, so it looked normal but had no function. It was hard for Ben to get back into the groove now that his dominate arm was gone. At least he got a job, some fast food place in a high tourist area, it wasn't glamorous, in fact, nobody wanted him to get it, Barnabas mentioned that he could probably get Ben a job as an intern for another professor, but, for now, just to get use to his left arm, he stuck with the fast food place.

Ben sighed as he went inside the brightly lit room. His family, Atticus, and Zenith all behind him as they followed suit. Seeing the familiar glass casings, chairs, and phones, Ben let out another sigh. Sitting down, he saw Ivan on the other side. His hair no longer blue, but now a bright orange as they pretty much forced washed the dye out of his hair, Ben could see at the tips of his longer hair, Ivan still had a bit of blue still in there along with some blonde.

Picking up the phone, Ben just chuckled.

"What's up, Orange?" Ben questioned teasingly to him. Ivan let out a barking laugh.

"Had to bring the whole brigade with you?" Ivan questioned as he continued to laugh, he waved to the people behind Ben.

"Yeah well, they all care for you as well."

"I see Oliver doesn't."

"...Yeah, Oliver needed to spend some time in a mental hospital, he figured it was for the best." Ben mumbled as he lightly scratched his nose.

"Little too much for the guy? Eh...So I bet you're waiting on how the trail went?" Ivan let out a soft sigh and looked down almost sadly, instantly, Ben perked up and scooted closer.

"You got, guilty?"

"...Nope! Not guilty of the murder of Ivan! They ruled it as an accident, proving that the cabinet did fall on him!"

"That's great! What about..."

"James was ruled a suicide. They found the note." Ivan smiled. "I was found guilty of accessory to kidnapping so I'm still stuck in here for six months, three on good behavior."

"That's still great!" Ben happily spoke as he put a hand to the glass and Ivan did the same. Both just sighed out softly.

"That still leaves some questions, but I'll have to ask some other time, huh?"

Ivan nodded softly, he then smiled. "Hand me the phone to Dickless! I have something I want to ask him!"

"Don't call me that!" The phone suddenly ripped from his hand, Ben just got up and moved as Atticus took a seat. "I thought we were pass the name calling!" Atticus snarled out as he slammed a hand down.

"Nah, not yet. So, I have to ask. Zenith living with you now?"

If Atticus could blush, he would be, still he just straightened up and snorted bitterly, "Maybe."

"How cute."

"Knock it off...Ben, talk to your boyfriend." With a sudden toss the phone was back in Ben's hand and Ben just shook his head.

"He's not my boyfriend, mate." Ben responded back as he sat back down.

"Bah, doesn't matter, times up anyway. Look, mark your calendar for three months from now. I plan on getting out early." Ivan told him softly.

"Good luck on that. But, consider it down." Both of them stood and gave each other one last look before sighing out.

"Goodbye. Ben." Ivan softly whispered to him and Ben just sighed softly,

"...See you in three months. Damian."


End file.
